President’s note

As many of you know, the year was off to a very sad start with the passing of one of our own. Professor Leanne Armand was an inspirational scientist, mentor and advocate for women in Earth Science. She will be greatly missed. Below Heather Handley writes a tribute to Leanne. Our thoughts are with Leanne’s family, friends and colleagues.

This month we also saw the devastating impact of a volcanic eruption and tsunami on Tonga. We have more on this below, with details of how you can help the recovery effort.

With COVID ongoing we can expect that in 2022 the world will once again be relying on women to shoulder the increased caring load that has come with this pandemic (see an article on this below). For those who were able to attend the WOMEESA resilience workshop last year, you’ll know how great it was to spend time considering how our values and goals link to our resilience and how building resilience can help protect us during adversity. With that in mind, we have organised a wonderful webinar series in late February for WOMEESA members, led by Susan McGinty from Aya Leadership. There are four sessions with different themes around women in STEM, leadership and resilience, all free for WOMEESA members. We tried to pick a timeslot that worked for everyone from New Zealand right across to Western Australia, but it is difficult. If you can’t attend the live sessions you can register anyway and receive the link to the recording afterwards as well as the worksheets.

I hope you all manage to start the year well and I look forward to seeing you in one of our many February events, or online. We have a new Instagram account and a new LinkedIn, in addition to our Facebook page and twitter, so no matter which platform you prefer, we are there. Be sure to follow us for all the updates and reminders of WOMEESA events and what our members are up to.

— Melanie Finch

WOMEESA News

Vale Leanne Armand

All at WOMEESA and within the broader geoscience community were saddened to hear of the passing of Professor Leanne Armand earlier this month after a brave battle with illness. Leanne’s scientific and leadership achievements have made, and will continue to make, a long-lasting impact on our understanding of the science of the Southern Ocean, diatom distributions and ecology and to the success of ANZIC and the IODP.

Leanne was an influential leader and inspiring mentor to so many, through which her legacy will live on. Leanne was a great supporter of WOMEESA and to women in geoscience. Leanne was an invited member of our 2018 WOMEESA Workshop Panel at AGCC. During the discussion, Leanne told us that when she often entered a room she would receive comments like “here comes trouble”. Leanne actually thrived on this knowing that she was making such waves within the community and challenging the status quo. We admire Leanne’s determination to make positive change, grit and stoicism and will miss her immensely!

Leanne’s obituary detailing many of her great achievements can be found here.

We offer our sincere thoughts and wishes to her family and close friends and will keep the wonderful memories of Leanne and her spirit with us.

Leanne fourth from the right, invited presenters and panellists at the 2018 WOMEESA Workshop.

February Leadership Interactive Webinars

We are delighted to have teamed up with Aya Leadership to offer WOMEESA members a four-part series of interactive webinars, led by Dr Susan McGinty, an expert in coaching and training women leaders in STEM. If you want to improve your leadership skills, enhance your voice and visibility, build resilience or become a better communicator, this series of webinars will definitely help.

Part I: Women in STEM: Navigating barriers to leadership 16/2 11am (Sydney time)

Part II: Resilience: A protective factor for women in STEM 17/2 12pm (Sydney time)

Part III: Enhancing your voice and visibility 24/2 12pm (Sydney time)

Part IV: Women in STEM: Developing as leaders 25/2 12pm (Sydney time)

Webinars will be delivered via zoom. Advance registration for each webinar is required and you can come along to one webinar or all four. If you can’t make a live webinar, registering will provide you access to the webinar recording. To register and find out more, go here.

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 December WOMEESA seminar was presented by Caroline Tiddy from the University of South Australia about diversity in geoscience. You can watch it here.

Don’t miss the next WOMEESA Seminar:

Wednesday 9 February 2022, 2pm AEDT (Sydney time)

Associate Professor Hannah Power, University of Newcastle

“From runup to overwash: understanding waves to better manage coastal hazards”

See our website for more information and registration

Summer of science - starting off at sea

Late last year a team of kiwi scientists from GNS Science and NIWA departed Wellington on board NIWA’s blue water Research Vessel Tangaroa and headed to the Tasman Sea. This represents a rare and noteworthy occasion for a geophysics-focused project where the majority of the science party are women, including voyage leader Dr Sally Watson and co-lead Dr Jess Hillman. To read all about it check out Jess’ most recent blog.

If you’re heading out into the field this summer, working in the lab, starting a new project, whatever you’re involved in - we would love to share a bit about your work on the WOMEESA blog - get in touch through Twitter or email Jess!

Save the date: WOMEESA-GSA International Women’s Day event

To celebrate IWD WOMEESA and GSA are hosting a panel discussion on the topic of “Geoscience for Society: Women’s contributions to building a sustainable future through geoscience”. Our confirmed panellists are Christina Magill, Steph McLennan, Tanvi Oza, Caroline Tiddy and Sabin Zahirovic, hosted by WOMEESA President Melanie Finch and GSA President Pete Betts. Registration will be available soon, but it’s a busy day so put it in your calendar now: 8 March, 12-2pm AEDT.

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 February, 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

Tonga natural disasters

We were deeply saddened to see the widespread devastation in Tonga due to the volcanic eruption of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai on January 15 and the consequent tsunami. Every facet of life in Tonga has been affected, from the availability of clean drinking water to the destruction of land and property. Recovery will be slow, the scale of this disaster is unprecedented. If you are looking for a way to help the recovery effort here is a list of the most responsible and thoughtful ways to do that.

WOMEESA members provided reliable scientific information to a number of media organisations in the aftermath of the disaster. Associate Professor Heather Handley gave a huge number of interviews on TV and radio describing the science of the volcanic eruption and what it means for the people of Tonga. Associate Professor Hannah Power was on radio and TV explaining what tsunami are, which regions were likely to be affected, and how long the threat remained for. She also wrote a piece for the Conversation about the effect of tsunami in Australia. Their clear science communication helped us all understand what this meant for the people of Tonga as well as those around the world who were affected by the tsunami.

Meritous Honour for Shona Blewett

Congratulations to Shona Blewett from Geoscience Australia for her Meritous Honour in this year’s Australia Day Honours List. Her award was “For outstanding public service to education and teacher training in Earth Sciences, and for leadership in education innovations”.

women’s mental load in 2022

We have known for a while now that in opposite-sex couples women shoulder a high proportion of household work. Over the last few years there has been greater recognition of the invisible part of this work: the planning, stress and foresight that it takes to run a household and the lives of those in it. The term for this invisible work is ‘mental load’ and over the last couple of years the mental load of women has increased dramatically. With homes becoming workplaces/childcares/schools the boundaries between home and work have vanished, and this has disproportionately affected women. In an article in the Conversation published earlier this year, Dr Leah Ruppanner and team explored what 2022 might mean for the mental load of mothers and what workplaces and governments should be doing to help with this huge mental health issue.

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 open on Tuesday 1 February 2022! Watch the launch video to find out more.

International Day of Women and Girls in Science, 11 February

The UNs International Day of Women and Girls in Science is on February 11. This year the theme is “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion: Water Unites Us". A particular focus will be events that aim to recognise women and girls in science who are accelerating progress toward the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation).

If you or your organisation are holding an event for this day let us know at womeesa.network@gmail.com and we will feature you on our socials that day, or just tag @womeesa on twitter etc.

New seminar series from GeoLatinas

GeoLatinas have launched a new online seminar series. Talks are in English and are on various geo topics and live streamed every two weeks and then posted on their YouTube channel. The first seminar was by Maria Cristina Figueroa from the University of California Riverside about characterising biogeochemical cycles in diverse marine environments. To find out more go to their Facebook page http://facebook.com/GeoLatinasFace/

Seminar: How communication can help solve climate change

Linden Ashcroft and Nic Badullovich are teaming up for a seminar on February 1 about how communication can help us solve climate change. They explore why governments are not taking meaningful action on climate change despite the clarity of the science, and how communication is key in breaking down the politics and building a social mandate for climate change. The talk is at 5pm (Syd time) on zoom, find out more and register here.

New paper on Black Summer fires

Fire ecologist Rachael Nolan and team recently published a synthesis on the Black Summer fires and how climate change is changing the impact of fires on our ecological and social systems. They show that we need to change the way we prepare for fire seasons to mitigate future fire risk. The team also published an article in the Conversation that summarises the major findings.

Survey of Volcanic Hazards and Risk in Australia - Participants needed!

Heather Handley is conducting a survey to find out what Australians think about volcanic hazards and risk and is looking for members of the general public to complete a 10-12 minute, ethics approved, anonymous survey. So if you have family or friends that are over 18 and live in Australia, and have a bit of time to spare while taking public transport, waiting for the kettle to boil or that would just like to help out a research study for our Inaugural President, please send them to the survey link here or direct them to the QR code on the flyer below. The survey will be open until the end of the year. Thanks!

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.
Open rank (level C to E) continuing position at ANU in analytical geochemistry/mass spectrometry (30 April)
CSIRO are also looking for a Spatial Research Scientist, Natural Resources to contribute to research relevant to natural resources, such as minerals and water.

PhD opportunities:

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
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 Geochemistry and Mineral Science (GeMS) research group in the Research Centre for Water, Energy and Waste (WEWR) at the Harry Butler Institute (HBI), Murdoch University, has two fully funded PhD positions in the fields of isotope geochemistry and extractive metallurgy
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

Newsletter Contributors

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.

Jess Hillman

Jess Hillman has been a WOMEESA committee member since 2018 and writes our membership spotlights and blog posts. She is a Marine geoscientist/geophysicist at GNS Science.