A changing environment

It has been quite a while since I wrote a blog, in fact not since December last year. What a busy four months it has been! In February I gave a keynote presentation at the International Association of Wildland Fire’s Fire Behaviour and Fuels Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina. I spoke about the research undertaken at the Bushfire CRC over the last decade and how it is of interest and value worldwide, not just in Australia and New Zealand.

The conference theme, ‘At the crossroads: looking toward the future in a changing environment’ was timely as it coincided with the recent announcement of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC. We are moving into a changing environment, with research to be expanded to cover other natural hazards.

Many of you will be aware that I have taken on the part-time Interim CEO role for the implementation team for the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, working together with former AFAC CEO and Bushfire CRC Director Naomi Brown, who is Interim Chair. The implementation team have been extremely busy since mid-March undertaking all the things required to establish the new CRC from scratch by July this year; something that normally would take a year or more. There has been a strong focus on the development of the research agenda, and there is now a public call for research proposals.

If you have any questions on the current activities of the Bushfire CRC or the new Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC please drop me a line, richard.thornton@bushfirecrc.com