Keynote talk, at an international conference, wow, I hope you know what you are doing. Ran the doubts around my brain. I hope the organisers know what they are doing. i screamed more. Those who have seen my presentation style will know it is a bit unorthodox, obtuse music and football references, visual jokes, self […]

I am trying to master a word. Eyjafjallajokull. Go on, give it a go. Rolls off the tongue. Of course, in Iceland, it does, and the locals humour and encourage me when I try to drop it into a sentence. I’m in Iceland as a guest of the Integrated Disaster Risk Management Society and NORDRESS […]

Sometime in May, I came to work, went to the same desk, logged onto the same computer, and answered the same phone. But, something had changed, as I became the National Resilience Adviser for Red Cross’ Emergency Services. What do you do, in this somewhat impressively titled new role, I hear you ask. Well, this […]

5988752. This is my phone number from when I was growing up. I can remember that number, and my first passport number H515543, and a couple of other numbers. But I can’t remember by daughter’s mobile numbers, or the phone numbers of friends. Not since I’ve contracted out my memory to my smart phone. There […]

“Wine makers lose billions annually in natural disasters” was the headline that truly caught my eye. This potentially catastrophic. Well, perhaps not, but serious. It should be a lever to get more investment out of politicians in disaster mitigation surely? The headline did get me thinking about how I have intersected with wine over the […]

There is a house in suburban Melbourne, it is probably 1973. In the front yard there is a large lilly pilly tree, at the top of the lilly pilly tree is a young boy. He is looking out over red heat shimmering tiled rooftops towards the bay. IT has been hot for days. He is […]