Pathways from research to industry and practice, networking and supporting future leaders were the key takeaways from the student workshop at the Natural Hazards Research Forum 24 in Adelaide in May.
Postgraduate and early career research was a focus at NHRF24, with dedicated student presentations, posters, research utilisation workshops and networking opportunities featured throughout the three-day program.
A pre-Forum student workshop brought together 19 Centre-funded postgraduate and early career researchers, hosted by Centre Research and Implementation Director, Dr Shiva Prasad and Research Services Project Officer, Dr Supriya Gurung.
“This session was a great opportunity to hear directly from the next generation of natural hazard researchers,” Dr Prasad said, who opened the workshop with an overview of the Centre’s higher education program.
“Our postgraduate and early career researchers are doing exciting and wide-ranging work across a range of natural hazard-related disciplines, and this session allowed us to meet them in person, hear what they’re doing and understand how we can better support them as they progress through their research careers.”
Featured in the session were:
- Dr Felipe Aires, former Bushfire CRC PhD student and now a Fire Science Interpretation Officer with National Parks and Wildlife Service NSW, with the presentation Beyond academia: navigating the path to practical impact
- Dr Johanna Garnett, (pictured above) Manager for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience, South Australian Fire and Emergency Services Commission (SAFECOM) with the presentation Research to utilisation and impact
- A ‘research speed dating’ opportunity for students to meet each other and share their ongoing projects
- Friedo Ligthart and Joanna Wood, from the Centre’s communications team, with the presentation Tooling up your digital communications toolbox
Dr Supriya Gurung, Centre Research Services Project Officer and education program coordinator believes the workshop’s value is in the creation of strong networks between students in diverse fields of work, and to discover the different paths their research can take them.
“The research speed dating was a great way to learn about the fascinating work that students from all sorts of backgrounds and disciplines are doing. It also helped break the ice and help build strong connections with researchers from all over Australia,” Dr Gurung said.
The Forum also launched the Centre’s new Early- and Mid- Career Academic and Practitioner (EMCAP) Network, specifically aimed to support EMCAPs to grow, learn and become the next generation of leaders in the natural hazards space.
You can learn more about NHRF24, including recordings of Day 1 plenary sessions, student presentations and posters here.