Office for Environmental Programs (OEP)

Fundamentals of Soil Short Course has wrapped up in Suva, Fiji. What a team effort! I am grateful for the hard work of Ivanah Oliver and Chris Guppy University of New England (AU), all the agriculture staff at Fiji National University for hosting the event: Mereia Fong Lomavatu and Deeksha Krishna, and the help of Dr Rohit Lal from Pacific Community-SPC Together they helped deliver a short course on the fundamentals of soil to participants from Fiji, Tonga, Kiribati, Samoa and Vanuatu. Funded by Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), this short course not only addressed an identified skills gap but will determine the best way to upskill and increase soil analysis capacity for the region.

Always a pleasure to be part of the conversation on the challenges facing the coast. The ABC's Conversation Hour with Richelle Hunt & Kirsten Diprose today focused on the impact of last weeks storms on Victoria's beaches and what needs to be considered for the future. https://lnkd.in/gAr8qTtF

Wonderful to be using Geomorphology to help unravel the stories of Country Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC) . A rising full moon on the Winter Solstice, what a way to finish a day's field work in Gippsland with Runjie Yuan Ainsley Perkin .

The development decisions of the past are really changing our ability to adapt to sea level rise as a result of climate change. To adapt we need to consider what we value, what needs to be protected and how we adjust. In this example, I'm interviewed about the northern coast of Western Port Bay. https://lnkd.in/gMv6hk9S

Two new papers from the Victorian Coastal Monitoring Program team (DEECA, Deakin Uni, & Uni of Melb) both with significant implications beyond Victorian through providing new methods/approaches for managing our coast for the future! (1) A new method of calculating shoreline erosion indices using a range of datasets with fundamental input from Citizen Scientists. Paper is in Ocean & Coastal Management & is Open Access (https://lnkd.in/g_xZcW7e) (2) A new dataset of sea floor sediment texture for Port Phillip Bay where Machine Learning-type tools are used to increase data coverage. This shows the important of good data when understanding uncertainty in modelling the environment. Paper is Earth Surface Processes and Landforms & is also Open Access ( https://lnkd.in/gTpq93z6 )

Multiple (Up to 7!) continuing positions at Associate Professor and Professor level in ANY science discipline have just opened here at Melbourne. "As part of the Faculty of Science’s commitment to being at the forefront of research, we are excited to be announcing the appointment of up to seven academic leaders with world leading expertise in any area encompassed by the Faculty. Applicants will be appointed as Associate Professors (Level D) or Professors (Level E), depending on their level of previous experience and accomplishment. Appointees are expected to make outstanding contributions towards research, to contribute to the delivery and development of education programs, and leadership." Further details at: https://lnkd.in/gauuNqyX

It is a pleasure to be asked to do an Op Ed for The Age this week. We really need to face the challenges of environmental change on our coast now! Maintaining natural system functioning must be a priority!