President’s note
As I write this month’s newsletter, the devastating floods in Queensland are all over the news, with reports of stranded people on top of their houses waiting for rescue, while flood waters continue to rise. Our thoughts are with all those affected. Any WOMEESA members in those regions please get in contact if there is anything WOMEESA can do to help in the coming days or in the recovery effort.
The situation overseas is also frightening, with citizens of Ukraine fighting for the country they love. Videos of teachers, scientists, and other peace-loving ordinary Ukrainians being interviewed while waiting to pick up their weapons to fight this war shook me this weekend. These are people who until a few days ago were going about their ordinary lives, and are now thrust into a war that appears to be a result of the whim of just one man. For Ukrainians in Australasia this is also an incredibly difficult time and we are thinking of you and hoping there is a safe and fast resolution.
On a lighter note and closer to home, the committee here at WOMEESA have had a huge month. This time of year is always busy for us in the lead up to International Women’s Day, which is also WOMEESAs birthday. This year to celebrate IWD we have teamed up with the Geological Society of Australia to present a special panel about women’s contributions to building a sustainable future through geoscience. Our panelists come from academia, government and industry both in Australia and New Zealand. This is sure to be an insightful panel discussion and wonderful celebration. There is more information and a link to register below.
Our committee has also been busy organising local meetups. If you haven’t been to one before, this is an excellent opportunity to meet some women in your area in Earth and Environmental science and to build your network of supporters. More details below.
For those of us in academia a new semester is upon us, with all the craziness and excitement that teaching brings to our jobs. This semester is sure to have its challenges, but hopefully it is the beginning of a return to normal after a difficult couple of years in some regions. For geoscience educators, if you haven’t heard of AUGEN, check them out. It’s the Australasian Universities Geoscience Education Network and they are a community of educators who support excellence in geoscience education. It’s a great place for new teaching ideas and support.
— Melanie Finch
WOMEESA News
International Women’s Day
To celebrate IWD, WOMEESA have teamed up with the Geological Society of Australia to host a panel discussion on the topic of “Geoscience for Society: Women’s contributions to building a sustainable future through geoscience”. Our panelists are Christina Magill, Steph McLennan, Tanvi Oza, Caroline Tiddy and Sabin Zahirovic, and the event will be hosted by WOMEESA President Melanie Finch and GSA President Pete Betts, with huge thanks to Sue Fletcher and Heather Handley for organisation and coordination of the event. We hope to see you there: 8 March, 12-2pm AEDT. Register here.
LOCAL MEET UPS TO CELEBRATE IWD AND OUR 4TH BIRTHDAY
Local meet ups of WOMEESA members have been organised in Adelaide, Brisbane, Melbourne and Canberra to celebrate our 4th birthday and International Women’s Day. The details for each are below, all in the local time zone. It’s not too late to organise a meet up in your town or region! Contact our events coordinator Fernanda.AlvaradoNeves@monash.edu to get help or to let WOMEESA know your plans so we can help you with publicity.
Melbourne, VIC, Australia
o When: Friday 11th of March, 12:30 pm (Melbourne time)
o Where: Long Street Coffee, 45 Little Hoddle Street, Richmond, VIC 3121
Brisbane, QLD, Australia:
o When: Tuesday 8th March, 10:30-11:30 am (Brisbane time)
o Where: Ground floor of the Steele Building/GCI Courtyard, University of Queensland, St Lucia Campus
Canberra, ACT, Australia:
o When: Tuesday 8th March from 5.30 pm (Canberra time)
o Where: Walt & Burley outdoor beer garden, 17 Eastlake Parade, Kingston Foreshore
Greater Adelaide, SA, Australia:
o When: Friday 11th March, 12:00-1:30pm (Adelaide time)
o Where: The Gardens, Kiosk & Events, Plane Tree Drive
Leadership Workshops
We were delighted to team up with Aya Leadership in February to offer WOMEESA members a series of workshops, led by Dr Susan McGinty, an expert in coaching and training women leaders in STEM. The sessions were excellent for recognising and discussing our personal barriers to success and job satisfaction, and how we can navigate around them. If you would like to learn more about leadership and resilience you can sign up to Aya Leadership’s newsletter and check out the other resources available on their website.
Online Seminar Series
Each month we host a seminar via zoom from a WOMEESA member. Our seminar series aims to increase the visibility of women in science and provide inspiring role models. All are welcome, including non-members.
Details of upcoming seminars on posted the seminar webpage here, and past seminars are posted on our YouTube channel here. We’re also compiling a list of talks by women in earth and environmental sciences in the region which you can find on the seminars webpage.
The February WOMEESA seminar was presented by Hannah Power from the University of Newcastle. You can watch it here.
Don’t miss the next WOMEESA Seminar:
Wednesday 9 March 2022, 2pm AEDT (Sydney time)
Dr Marji Puotinen, Australian Institute of Marine Science
“Cyclones, coral reefs, penguins, kids, Antarctica and leadership!”
Summary: This talk will explore Marji’s research into how tropical cyclones impact coral reefs around the world both positively and negatively, and why this is so tricky to model. It will also explain how a voyage to Antarctica in 2019 with 90 women scientists has inspired Marji to let kids ‘bleach’ her while wearing a coral polyp costume, to talk to journalists wearing an inflatable Earth costume, and to reach out to thousands of kids (and adults) around the world in her spare time.
See our website for more information and registration
WOMEESA South Australian Chapter events
The SA team have been very busy planning some local events. To keep up to date with SA chapter activities follow them on LinkedIn.
Here are all the links to register for their upcoming events:
April 14th Virtual Trivia: https://lnkd.in/g6BmA3zv
May 13th F2F: https://lnkd.in/dxj6h_9a
June 16th Virtual Trivia: https://lnkd.in/gzUAMs8S
July 15th F2F: https://lnkd.in/dCXYmBv9
August 11th Virtual Trivia: https://lnkd.in/gtUZwMxt
WOMEESA postgraduate news
Welcome to a new postgraduate section of the WOMEESA newsletter, written by WOMEESA committee member Alanis Olesch-Byrne, our postgraduate representative.
In this section of the newsletter we want to create a space where we can uplift and celebrate postgraduate students! So, if you or someone you know has has achieved or completed something, let me know (e: alanis.oleschbyrne@my.jcu.edu.au ). In a PhD it is important to celebrate all victories, big or small.
This month we’re congratulating Tahnee Burke, a PhD student at Monash University who is looking into the formation of the Martian Crust using geochemistry and metamorphic modelling. Tahnee just completed the first year of her PhD and her confirmation milestone! Congratulations Tahnee!
We want your science photos!
The WOMEESA committee would love to curate a repository of science "stock photos", showing real women in science doing what they do best. These snaps can be science-in-action, poses in the field or lab, candid interactions, or even some goofy shots! We’d like to use the photos in online WOMEESA graphics, advertisements, flyers, and other promotional material. If you have one or more photos you think would be great, then send them to womeesa.network@gmail.com.
Shut up and write
On the last Friday of the month we hold an online Shut Up and Write #SUAW session via zoom. We get together and talk briefly about what we want to achieve in the session, then write for about 50 minutes.
It’s a great opportunity to connect with other members and get some uninterrupted writing done. Even if you don’t have anything to write, you can just come along and say hi.
Next event will be Friday 25 March, 12 pm (Sydney time) the zoom link will be emailed out to members the day before.
Member spotlights
Our member spotlights are helping increasing the visibility of women working in earth and environmental sciences in the region and share experiences. If you would like to feature on a member spotlight page or write an article for our blog page please get in touch with Jess (j.hillman@gns.cri.nz)
Take a look at the most recent spotlights here
Other WOMEESA News
GSSA seminar on critical minerals
Earlier this month Peta Abbot from the Department for Energy and Mining was joined by colleague Anthony Reid and Diana Zivak, Jessica Walsh, and Carl Spandler from the University of Adelaide to talk about the importance of critical minerals in a GSSA seminar. You can watch the recording here.
Written in Stone
No doubt some of our Victorian members have already picked up this beautiful book from their local bookshop, but since we are all getting a bit more mobile and perhaps seeking out the next road trip, I figured it was a good time to mention it. ‘Written in Stone’ is by geologist Philomena Manifold and its about the rocks of the Great Ocean Road. Field geoscientists reading this will know exactly what I mean when I say that it is truly wonderful to encounter a geologist who also has huge creative talent. When people with those intersecting skill sets draw rocks, the result is quite wonderful; Philomena depicts geology in a way that no photograph can capture. She recently chatted to Jacinta Parsons on ABC radio about her book, deep time, and Victorian geology. You can listen in here, and you can buy the book here.
Beating the odds
Late this month ‘Beating the odds: A practical guide to navigating sexism in Australian universities’ by Professor Marcia Devlin was launched. This book describes the factors working against women in academia and why so many women’s careers end at junior levels. Professor Devlin highlights what her experience has taught her about how to be successful in academia and the things that each of us might be doing to hinder our success. This was a thought-provoking read for me that made me (1) say no to two new service roles in one week and (2) made me start writing a strategic plan for my career. This book is mostly about changing the way women work in order to maximise their success within the current system, which, to be honest, is a concept that can be quite irritating because it is really the system that needs to change, not women. However, the rate of change is painfully slow, and in the meantime we are all trying to work within the current academic system (while also trying to change it), so this is a useful book for understanding ways that we can do that more successfully.
Launch of the Earth Futures Festival
The Earth Futures Festival is an international film and video festival that showcases the role of geoscience in our sustainable future. It will run in a hybrid format between August and October in 2022. Submissions for the Earth Futures Festival opened on Tuesday 1 February 2022! Watch the launch video to find out more.
Opportunities
Jobs:
CSIRO has 49(!) postdocs available at the moment in a range of fields, including soil science, ecology, environmental science and Earth system science.
Level B or C position in Earth Sciences at UNSW (March 11)
Open rank (level C to E) continuing position at ANU in analytical geochemistry/mass spectrometry (30 April)
Director Geoscience Energy and Maritime in Suva, Fiji (7 March)
PhD opportunities:
Associate Professor Caroline Tiddy has a PhD scholarship on offer in the Future Industries Institute at UniSA. The project is titled “Impacts of technology development on social and governance frameworks in the context of mineral exploration”. They are looking for a student with a background/interest in social science (social license to operate) and geoscience. The project will be supported by MinEx CRC with supervisors with expertise in geoscience, environmental law and social science. Closing date is 6th March. Both domestic and international applicants are welcome. Further information can be found at https://workingatunisa.nga.net.au/?jati=5612DDC7-536A-5C70-3DE6-C00554F432C0.
PhDs available at Curtin University, Perth on ARC funded research on (1) Microbial induced fossilisation of insects or (2) Exceptionally preserved fossils. Suitable for applicants with microbiology &/or organic geochemistry &/or palaeontology &/or organic mass spectrometry expertise. Please send expression of interest, cv and two referees to K.grice@curtin.edu.au. Top international applicants may also be considered
PhD position at Southern Cross University on biogeochemistry of weathering for CO2 removal.
The Indigenous Knowledge Institute at the University of Melbourne is seeking applications from Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars who wish to undertake a PhD on a topic related to Indigenous knowledges. Applications close May 27 unless allocated earlier.
The University of Waikato has a PhD position on flooding and rainfall histories reconstructed from cave systems in New Zealand
The University of Waikato also has a PhD position on Soil organics matter: exploring abiotic pathways to mitigation of agricultural nitrous oxide emissions
Have an opportunity you’d like to share then let us know!
Newsletter Editor-in-Chief
Melanie Finch
Melanie is President of WOMEESA and a geoscience lecturer at JCU. Email her at womeesa.network@gmail.com if you have news or opportunities to include in the next newsletter.
Newsletter Contributors
Alanis Olesch-Byrne
Alanis is part of the WOMEESA committee and the postgraduate representative. She is a PhD student in structural and metamorphic geology at James Cook University and she will be writing the postgraduate student news section in each newsletter. You can email her with your news: alanis.oleschbyrne@my.jcu.edu.au
Heather Handley
Heather Handley is the Co-Founder and first President of WOMEESA (2018-2021), co-founder of Earth Futures Festival, Adjunct Assoc. Prof. at Monash University and Honorary Assoc. Prof. at Macquarie University.