Peter Jackson passed away on Wednesday, July 11 after a two-year battle against cancer. He was a major contributor to the sport in Victoria over a period of three decades, including a stint as VOA President during the first half of the 1990’s, and later roles as the VOA’s Mapping Officer, a member of the VOA’s Technical Committee and a regular controller for many years. He was a mainstay of the Rockhoppers club for most of its existence, and later became a founder member of the Melbourne Forest Racers.

Peter was also a serious competitor at the masters level. He had numerous championship placings to his name, and won two national titles, in 1988 (M35A) and 1998 (M45A) from 24 starts. As recently as last October, with his illness well advanced, he took out the resident title in M55A at the Victorian Long Distance Championships, and was second in M55AS at Easter in his last major event.

He will also be a significant loss to the Australian scientific community. Until last year he was head of the Co-operative Research Centre for Clean Power Generation, and was a leader in the effort to develop methods of reducing greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power stations.

The Australian orienteering community extends its deepest sympathies to Peter’s wife Carolyn, and their children Adrian, Melinda and Timothy.