General

The Wombats of Wollombi Episode 1 – Bones from nowhere.

Released for National Science Week 2020: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmflFac2rms Some comments from myself as The Wombats premier today: The Wombats have been a work in progress, at least within my mind, since my Homeward Bound voyage. It took until losing my job working as a geologist when coronavirus hit for me to finally put pen to paper or rather, s-pen to tablet, to do something about my creative urges. To use wombats to tell my stories became a no-brainer for me after my dad died in 2017 – they were his favourite animal and, of course, live underground where all geologists live in a virtual sense. My dad was one of my biggest fans while I was fund-raising for HB16, to the point of embarrassment at times but his relentless enthusiasm taught me it’s ok to be proud of my achievements. My Homeward Bound sisters in 2016 witnessed my awakening to my…

Homeward Bound

How do we engage men in the conversation?

I have recently found myself again riding the anxiety waves associated with my participation in the first voyage of Homeward Bound, in anticipation of The Leadership film’s release. One of my first emotional un-doings aboard the ship stemmed from a remark from my husband in October 2016 that the entire year had only been about me – I had lost his engagement with the real reason I was embarking on the journey (aside from wanting to see penguins), which was to better my communication skills for conversations about mineral resource sustainability with the broader society. Yes, I wanted to improve myself, but how had he missed the point that it was ultimately for the greater good – not just for me? Having seen The Leadership film twice now and watched the extended discussion, I am still searching for how to engage even my husband in conversation about women’s leadership. He…

General

Happy Birthday Callum, have an Earthquake!

So it’s the third tremor I’ve felt while living in Darwin, almost 1 year now.  Apparently there was one last night as well, around dinner time.  That one I did not feel but perhaps I was busy, plus the tele was on, plus I’d had wine… My bed shook at 5.46 this morning and something dropped on the floor in the apartment above me.  Scared the proverbial …. out of me.  Once I was awake enough to realise what it was (not Ian slamming the front door on his way to the airport) I rode the waves out in bed, quite calmly.  I really enjoy such an experience, probably because I know exactly what’s happening, geologically speaking.  I always try to focus for as long as possible to feel every wobble-cluster afterwards as they become gentler and fade away. The ABC was quick to report this one, probably because it…

Homeward Bound

Homeward Bound 2016 Report

I found it extraordinarily difficult on my return from HB16 to explain to friends and family exactly what we did while aboard the MV Ushuaia and what I had personally gained from the experience… in discovering and understanding my own journey.  Pages 7-11 in this document are a break-down of what our faculty members delivered to us and their thoughts on the experience, which hopefully may go part of the way in describing what went on.  I think, however, that it will always be the case that I simply can’t put into words the profound influence my participation in this project has had on my own personal story.  I get emotional just reflecting on my experiences from HB now, but by acknowledging this I know that I display courage in being able to express this feeling – one of the core outcomes of the trip. And in the background, on Facebook/email and Skype/zoom, we HB16 participants are so much stronger…

General

Future Earth – National Science Week 2017

This is a presentation I gave to years 5 and 6 at Nakara Primary School.  We had quite a discussion! The Anthropocene – we’re in it, like it or not. This is the period in which humans have so influenced geological processes at the Earth’s surface that evidence is now trapped within strata to make a physical reference point in time.  (Although we’re still arguing over the exact date… but what’s a few decades in 4.5 billion years?) We have created what’s termed the Technosphere. Plants and animals constantly re-use nutrients and wastes but people aren’t very good at that.  We recycle some materials but most of our junk just keeps piling up.  Maybe in the order of 30 trillion tonnes of it! [1] So what might Future Earth be like? Some simple examples to consider are things like: Railway/road tunnels, underground mines and drill holes – at some time…