Darwin 2010: Annual Conference

Darwin 2010 Annual Conference - Trade Expo

With more than 900 people at the Darwin Convention Centre in September, the Bushfire CRC/AFAC Annual Conference again lived up to its reputation as the biggest fire, emergency services and land management event of the year.

The week began with Professional Development sessions across a range of topics, including one specifically aimed to introduce new researchers, students and others to the workings of the Bushfire CRC.

Over the three days of the main conference there were three separate streams of presentations from researchers, management and operational personnel, both from Australia and international.

The broader fire industry was also well represented with around 120 booths on the Trade Expo floor.

Much of the conference is now on the Knowledge Web. This includes powerpoint presentations of most speakers and video highlights.

See poster presentations from Bushfire CRC researchers below.

News from the Event

Professor John Handmer has been awarded the Bushfire CRC Special Recognition Award for 2010 for his timely research work in the wake of the Black Saturday bushfires.
Savanna Burning Day
Tropical savanna burning research was on show in September as part of the annual conference.
More than 900 fire managers and researchers gathered in Darwin in September for the sector's biggest research and fire management conference.

Other Resources

Marco DeSisto's Phd project is investigating the complex interactions in bushfire risk management. This video was recorded at the 2010 Annual Conference in Darwin.

John Schauble is the Lead End User for the Bushfire CRC project Effective Communication - Communities and Bushfire. He was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference.

Liam Fogarty is the Lead End User for the project on Effective Incident Management. He was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference.

Professor Tim Skinner talks about his Bushfire CRC project "Information Processing Under Stress - Community Reactions." Tim was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference in Darwin.

Colin Simpson's Bushfire CRC PhD is investigating the dynamic interactions between a wildfire and the surrounding atmosphere. This video was recorded at the 2010 Annual Conference in Darwin.

Phil Zylstra was interviewed on his research project on "Fire intensity and a total fuel model" at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference in Darwin.

An overview of the opening day of the Bushfire CRC/AFAC annual conference in Darwin, September 2010.

Highlights and interviews from the second day of the Bushfire CRC/AFAC annual conference in Darwin, September 2010.

Christine Owen is a project leader for Bushfire CRC research on incident management systems. She was interviewed at the 2010 annual conference.

Rachel is undertook an analysis of Australian insurance law and the regulatory system covering property damage caused by fire. Rachel was interviewed at the 2010 Annual Conference in Darwin.

James Minas is conducting his PhD project on "Making decisions under uncertainty". He was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference in Darwin.

Rick McRae led the Managing the Risk component of the Bushfire CRC Highfire project. He was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference in Darwin.

Douglas' project is investigating and designing core or safe-room options within domestic architecture as an adaptive integrated solution to both fire protection and sustainable building design practices. He was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference in Darwin.

Deb Parkin's PhD project considered the contribution that the development of a minimum standard of training might have on the effectiveness of an Incident Management Team. She was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference in Darwin.

Mick Ayre is the Lead End User for the Understanding Risk - Community Expectations project. He was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference

Andrew Stark is a Bushfire CRC Lead End User and has used Phil Zylstra's research on fire and fuel models. He was interviewed at the Bushfire CRC 2010 annual conference.

John Handmer is the project leader of the Bushfire CRC project Sharing Responsibility. He was interviewed at the 2010 Annual Conference.

Marco DeSisto's Phd project is investigating the complex interactions in bushfire risk management. This video was recorded at the 2010 Annual Conference in Darwin.

John Schauble is the Lead End User for the Bushfire CRC project Effective Communication - Communities and Bushfire. He was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference.

Liam Fogarty is the Lead End User for the project on Effective Incident Management. He was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference.

Professor Tim Skinner talks about his Bushfire CRC project "Information Processing Under Stress - Community Reactions." Tim was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference in Darwin.

Colin Simpson's Bushfire CRC PhD is investigating the dynamic interactions between a wildfire and the surrounding atmosphere. This video was recorded at the 2010 Annual Conference in Darwin.

Phil Zylstra was interviewed on his research project on "Fire intensity and a total fuel model" at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference in Darwin.

Christine Owen is a project leader for Bushfire CRC research on incident management systems. She was interviewed at the 2010 annual conference.

Rachel is undertook an analysis of Australian insurance law and the regulatory system covering property damage caused by fire. Rachel was interviewed at the 2010 Annual Conference in Darwin.

James Minas is conducting his PhD project on "Making decisions under uncertainty". He was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference in Darwin.

Rick McRae led the Managing the Risk component of the Bushfire CRC Highfire project. He was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference in Darwin.

Douglas' project is investigating and designing core or safe-room options within domestic architecture as an adaptive integrated solution to both fire protection and sustainable building design practices. He was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference in Darwin.

Deb Parkin's PhD project considered the contribution that the development of a minimum standard of training might have on the effectiveness of an Incident Management Team. She was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference in Darwin.

Mick Ayre is the Lead End User for the Understanding Risk - Community Expectations project. He was interviewed at the 2010 Bushfire CRC annual conference

Andrew Stark is a Bushfire CRC Lead End User and has used Phil Zylstra's research on fire and fuel models. He was interviewed at the Bushfire CRC 2010 annual conference.

John Handmer is the project leader of the Bushfire CRC project Sharing Responsibility. He was interviewed at the 2010 Annual Conference.

Research Posters

Communicating Risk
Author Title
Distinguishing between well - and under prepared communities
Distinguishing effective from ineffective messages: Lessons from health psychology
Effective communication: Communities and bushfire
Making decisions to minimise risk: A multilevel research perspective
Preparedness for bushfire threat: The role of selective information processing
Risk perception, preparedness and resource thoeries: The Australian bushfires
Understanding community members' survival related decision - making during bushfires
Managing the Threat
Author Title
Emergency incident management team (IMT) training review
Fire in the Landscape
Fires and hydrology of north eastern Australian mixed - species forests
Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Fire and Their Environmental Effects
How does fuel reduction burning influence forest carbon storage?
Numerical modelling of wildland fire - atmosphere interactions
Occupational health & safety
Occupational Health & Safety Surge Capacity
Organising for Effective Incident Management
Quantifying water quality risks following bushfire
Use of operations research (OR) for decision support in bushfire management
Program A
Author Title
Developing regional curing scenarios
Predicting woody fuel consumption; can existing models be accurately applied to Australian eucalypt forest fires?
Simulation-based training - Examining new approaches to 'bushfire behaviour' training
Program B
Author Title
Alpine soil as a methane sink: controlling factors and fire effects
Fire responses of planets on rocky outcorps
Forest flammability: Modelling and managing fire and fuel
Prescribed burning and sediment movement in the mount lofty ranges, South Australia
Remote Sensing Of Fire Severity in North Australia
Smoke composition and impact on human health and ecosystems
Program C
Author Title
A climate for change? Fire management's capacity to adapt to climate change: an institutional perspective
Playing with fire? Bushfire and everyday life changing rural landscapes
Putting research into practice: Developing bushfire safety messages for children
Program D
Author Title
A "team of experts" or an "expert team":Performance differences between pre-formed and ad hoc incident management teams
Barriers to worst case scenario thinking: What factors stop bushfire firefighters considering the worst?
Coronary heart disease risk in Victorian volunteer firefighters
Enhancing volunteerism by adapting to changing world
If our firefighters are arriving on shift dehydrated, why don't we make them drink beforehand?
Information flow and incedent management tean effectiveness
Pre-mortems: Understanding how things might go wrong before they do
The role of affect in incident management teams
Towards a neighbourhood-scale house loss risk assessment method for houses in the urban interface
Validating for for duty tests for Australian volunteer firefighters suppressing bushfires
Understanding Risk
Author Title
Catastrophic events, insurance and sufficient funding for fire services - a legal perspective
F.I.R.E. D.S.T fire impact and risk evaluation decision support tool
Future bushfire scenarios and economics
Living with bushfires
Mainstreaming fire law and policy
Modelling the Fire Weather on Black Saturday
Moving beyond the blame game: Sharing risk and responsibility
Smoke impacts at the rural - urban interface