- Future of the Bushfire CRC
- Stakeholders AGM
- Gold Coast conference
- Excellence Awards
- International connections
Future of the Bushfire CRC
Work is now underway to determine the research program to 2013.
As part of this process interviews have recently been conducted
with stakeholders to better understand and prioritise the research
issues arising from the 2009 Victorian Bushfires and to place these
in the context of the broader research needs of the industry.
The outcomes of these interviews were presented to the first
meeting of the Bushfire CRC’s Research Advisory Forum held
this week at the CRC offices in Melbourne. Around 50
representatives from fire and land management agencies and research
organisations across Australia heard series of project proposals
from research team leaders on topics grouped around the themes of
Understanding Risk, Communicating Risk and Managing Risk. The next
step is to develop these issues into the research project
plans and to fill any gaps in the preliminary research
agenda. The full details of where we are at with the research
program planning will be discussed at next month’s
Stakeholder Council meeting.
Stakeholders meeting – change of date to
19th November 2009.
Stakeholders would now be aware that due to a clash in meetings,
the Annual General Meeting of the Bushfire CRC Stakeholder Council
will now be held on 19 November 2009 in Melbourne. This meeting
will discuss the issue of ongoing research and, accordingly, the
new partners who signed up for the CRC for Fire – Environment
and Society have also been invited to participate.
This will be an important meeting to gain agreement on the
ongoing nature of bushfire research for our industry. I urge all
senior decision making Stakeholder’s to attend.
Gold Coast Conference and Bushfire CRC workshops for
industry
Thanks to our Queensland hosts, our annual conference, in
conjunction with AFAC, at the Gold Coast Convention Centre last
month again exceeded expectations with more than 1100 delegates
attending over the three days. The week began with 150 delegates
participating in the two Bushfire CRC pre-conference workshops and
a full-day seminar. These sessions allowed many of our researchers
to present their research to the broader industry and open up for
discussion ways in which it can be better utilised. This was
followed by two days of conference presentations (including nine by
Bushfire CRC researchers), a research poster display and a
spectacular conference dinner.
Conference presentations, posters, videos and photographs are
being progressively uploaded onto the Bushfire CRC website
here and the Knowledge Web. This is another important
part of Research Adoption so please be sure to promote this content
within your organisations.
Excellence Awards
A highlight of the conference was announcing the recipients of
the inaugural Bushfire CRC Awards for Excellence.
It is important that our finest
students and researchers are recognised and celebrated and these
awards are a new initiative to achieve those aims. Works conducted
over the life of the Bushfire CRC by a student and by a researcher
were considered. The awards included $10,000 to the honoured
researcher and $5000 to the honoured student for research into
their field of expertise.
The awards recognised individual excellence in meeting the
Bushfire CRC objectives of
enhancing:
-
the contribution of long-term scientific and technological research
and innovation to Australia's sustainable economic and social
development;
-
the transfer of research outputs into commercial or other outcomes
of economic, environmental or social benefit to Australia;
-
the value to Australia of graduate researchers; and
-
collaboration among researchers, between researchers and industry
or other users, to improve efficiency in the use of
intellectual and other research resources.
Following a call for nominations from all Stakeholders the
Bushfire CRC Governing Board decided that the most worthy
recepients were: Joshua Whittaker (pictured left, below), for the
Student Award and Dr (Lachie) Lachlan McCaw, for the Researcher
Award. (Pictured right, receiving his award from Bushfire CRC
Chairman Len Foster.)
- As a Bushfire CRC PhD student at RMIT University Josh has not
only successfully completed his studies but also contributed to the
Program C Bushfire Community Safety book, provided
material for input into the Garnaut Report on Climate Change, and
played a lead role in the Bushfire CRC research response taskforce
following the 2009 Victorian Bushfires. It is
recognised across the Bushfire CRC and the industry that Josh has
contributed well above the normal expectations of a student.
More
on Josh.
- Dr Lachie McCaw has been a project leader in the Bushfire CRC
research team since its inception and during this time has
delivered high quality research outcomes in understanding the
ecological impact of fire on the landscape. Whilst Dr
McCaw’s work has been principally focussed in south west
Western Australia, working with the Department of Environment and
Conservation, he has taken on a national role in the broader
evidence based decision making in the land management area playing
an important role in the completion and evaluation of the work on
Project Vesta and is a mentor to emerging researchers in this
field. He was the leader of the fire behaviour component of
the Bushfire CRC Research Response Taskforce following the 2009
Victorian bushfires and is a role model for researchers in this
industry for now and into the future. More on Lachie's research.
International connections
The Australian Government has made it clear that it desires to
see its investments in research benefiting from international
networks and for Australia to be seen as a leader, influencing the
global outcomes. Through the strong international links of its
Stakeholders, the Bushfire CRC has formed good international
networks. To build on these relationships, the Bushfire CRC
has proceeded to formalise opportunities for strengthening joint
international research. Apart from the financial benefit of having
additional funding from overseas, being used on Bushfire CRC
research projects in Australia and New Zealand, these connections
also provide the Bushfire CRC researchers with extended
opportunities for collaboration and building of wider scientific
networks.
On rural and land management research, the University of
California, the US Forests Service, the US Joint Fire Science
Program (which includes all National US Agencies and the States)
and Canada have expressed strong desires for joint research with
the Bushfire CRC. On structural and emergency management
research, we will seek through the AFAC connections, similar
interest from the UK and Europe research agencies.
Once the final research program for the period 2010 – 2013
is agreed to by Stakeholders, we will select projects that will
increase the return on investment to Bushfire CRC Stakeholders as a
result of international collaboration.
