Project news - Scientific diversity

This is the July 2015 newsletter from the Scientific Diversity, Scientific Uncertainty and Risk Mitigation Policy and Planning project (RMPP), with updates for project end users.

Activity update 

Project team members have been taking stock of Year 2 of the project and planning for Year 3. Some important activities from the last few months are.

The first journal article from the study has been published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. The article – ‘Navigating scientific uncertainty in wildfire and flood risk mitigation: a qualitative review’ by Dr Tim Neale and Dr Jessica K. Weir – is ‘in press’ and available here Open Access.

Dr Neale attended an Information Share with researchers and practitioners from the emergency services sector at NSW RFS headquarters in Sydney on 16 June, presenting a summary of the RMPP project. The ‘Info Share’ was a great opportunity to meet with contacts associated with the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, NSW RFS and other organisations and is likely to become a regular NSW RFS event.

The peri-urban Darwin case study has now been prioritised ahead of the Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley case study. News of Dr Neale’s fieldwork in Darwin will be included in the next newsletter.

Dr Neale presented a paper on the Barwon-Otway case study at the Institute of Australia Geographers Conference at the Australian National University in early July. Dr Neale will also present another version of this paper at Charles Darwin University’s Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods on Friday July 31st.

Finally, please let Timothy Neale know if you have any questions or project feedback, or what additional infomation you would like to see in these updates.