CEO's Update
As we know, geoscientists will be crucial in meeting society's future challenges through policies to avoid dangerous levels of climate change, to protect the environment and to ensure the availability of vital resources for all. I found this fantastic poster that neatly summarises this, you can download it from The Geological Society website.
Dear AuScopers, I hope you are all well, feel safe, and are coping with the changes that this pandemic has brought to us all professionally and personally.
Despite the challenges, we feel especially well connected with our national geoscience community, and are pleased to bunker down and tackle some of the quieter projects on our lists. We are even grateful for the opportunity to slowly contemplate the world a little differently.
Like all businesses, we have been affected by the closure of many of our workplaces around the country. In particular, all field-based activities have ceased, and most of our laboratories have closed for the foreseeable future. Zoom, Slack and Google Docs are our new friends (and frenemies at times).
As they say though ‘every cloud has a silver lining’, and these changes in work practices are giving many of us opportunities to pursue those projects that may have sat on the back burner for some time. This is fantastic, and there are several projects across our discipline that are now getting focussed attention.
In light of all of this, I would like to put three requests to you that hopefully will make the coming months more positive and balanced:
Look after yourself first
I think we are all finding the wall-to-wall Zoom meeting relentless, so make sure you make time for the things we took for granted in our old work life. Block time out in your calendar so you can do some exercise, write, read or whatever. Take leave when you need it. Finish your work days at some point (I never realised how vital my commute home was). And keep laughing with work colleagues, family and friends in whatever way works for you.
Communicate widely
As we do embark on these long-forgotten work projects, please make sure that we communicate widely about what we are doing. Use whatever channels work for you, but please tell us all what you are working on and look carefully at what has already been done. While we can’t have those ‘water-cooler chats’ at work or conferences, we need to be even more vigilant to check that we are working together as a community and not duplicating the efforts of others.
Keep focusing on the good news
Make sure you read some exciting geoscience and tell us when you do some yourselves. There is so much great geoscience being done at the moment, and it can be grounding to dip into new knowledge from time to time. You can start over on our News page, or with this piece by Mark Quigley from the University of Melbourne who considers Covid19 in the context of geoscience.
Upskill in FAIR data practice
If you have time, please join us in upskilling with this free 8-week online FAIR Data 101 course produced by ARDC that runs between 11 May — 3 July. Participants can learn about FAIR data and its application in research; how to articulate the benefits, barriers, challenges and opportunities in making data FAIR; gain hands-on experience with techniques, services and tools for making data FAIR; and identify best-practice examples and benefits of FAIR data management.
Take care everyone, and we will see you again on the other side!
Warm regards, Tim Rawling