This is my side business providing digital detoxes - nature immersion weekend retreats and guided forest therapy walks - in the Eurobodalla, South Coast NSW, Canberra, and Greater Sydney. As individuals, we need an antidote for the ever-increasing busyness of life, not to mention the amount of media coming at us. Nature Immersions take people out of their fast-paced work and lives and slow them down - reconnecting them with the natural world and to who they really are. From a bigger picture, societal point of view, the idea behind this work is also critical for the sustainability of the human race. As Jacques Costeau once said, "we protect what we love." Re-connecting people to nature helps them remember that we're part of nature and that we have to work with it rather than against it. These nature immersion walks and retreats are based on the emerging practice of nature therapy - which in turn is based on Japanese practice of 'shinrin yoku' (which translates as forest bathing.) The idea is to not only help people receive the benefits of being in nature but to help them build a stronger and deeper relationship with the natural world. Clearly, we need to live more sustainably. Fortunately, there is already a lot of technology out there to help us do that. But more powerfully, and maybe more importantly, we need to shift hearts and minds. Every generation in human history has faced its challenge. In the last century (my grandparents' and parents' era), it was surviving two world wars and protecting our country. For us in the 21st century, the challenge is protecting and restoring the planet. This place we inherited and that we rely on. So we, our kids, and future generations can not only survive but flourish. No other generation has faced such a monumental challenge. Now, more than ever, we need to remember and re-establish our bond with nature.

The Environment Show is an environmental podcast, blog and passion project. It features interviews with environmental leaders from Australia and around the world. It has included interviews with Jane Goodall, Bill McKibben, Paul Hawken and Jan Gehl. More at - http://environmentshow.com/ The show takes a big picture look at environmental issues and sustainability innovations. The topics covered include: business, cities, climate, conservation, consumerism, economics, energy, farming, food, housing, oceans, politics, transport, waste, water, and what you can do. More on the thinking behind the Show at - https://www.environmentshow.com/about/. The seeds of The Environment Show came from the environmental reporting I was doing for 2SER (Sydney Educational Radio) around 2008. At that stage, as a side project, I launched my interviews as a podcast in Apple iTunes. The podcast reached Number 4 in the News & Politics section of iTunes - above the Channel 9 News. (See screenshot below.) The site is also an environmental blog - with reviews of environmental books and films and roundups of the best environmental media. Interested in contributing a review or story? You can find out how to do it at - https://www.environmentshow.com/contribute/

I founded Media School to help people learn how to use the media to connect with individuals and build community for their own projects and to influence behaviour for good. (A key interest for me is how the media and communication can affect positive social change.) As well as presenting courses, I manage and run this small business. The School delivers mostly digital media training - including Podcast Training, Blogging Course, Linkedin Course, and Digital Marketing Course. Participants have included social change makers, entrepreneurs launching new businesses, small business owners, marketing managers, media managers, and career changers. The organisations that have sent staff on my training have included creative startups, causes & NGOs, cultural institutions, universities, schools, the media, NSW State Government and NSW Councils. You can see them at - https://mediaschool.com.au/past-attendees/. Classes can be delivered in-person - onsite in offices, in training venues, and live online via video streaming. I'm based on the South East Coast of Australia and can run in-person classes in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and Wollongong. You can see what people say about my training at - https://mediaschool.com.au/what-attendees-say/ I am currently developing new programs which tap into the growing interest and demand for managing digital media - including Marketing Without Social Media and How to Manage Screen Time (for adults and teens.)

Project management for the NSW Government's EV Fast Charging team. Supporting the development of Australia’s largest, fastest, most comprehensive fast charging network (via NSW’s Drive Electric $149 million grant program.)

Responsible for delivering the Shire's climate action plan. Key areas include renewable energy and electric vehicles. The tasks include: - Installation of solar energy in Council facilities - Supporting community solar energy microgrid and solar farm - Researching and writing an electric vehicle strategy - Supporting and managing the installation of EV charging stations - Monitoring Council's greenhouse gas emissions and working on improving performance - Supervising a team of sustainability officers - in education, water and waste - Working collaboratively with the Cities Power Partnership - particularly on renewable energy & EVs- Working collaboratively with Canberra Regional Joint Organisation - mainly renewable energy & EVs - Managing a Climate Change Advisory Committee - with key experts from the community - Managing an internal sustainability group with representatives from key areas within Council. Overall skills I'm using in the job are: research, writing, strategy development, community engagement, project management and coordination (of internal departments and external suppliers.) Eurobodalla is a shire on the South Coast of NSW incorporating the towns of Narooma, Moruya and Batemans Bay, as well as some beautiful countryside, beaches, lakes, national parks, and villages.

The City of Sydney is a leading local government in sustainability in Australia. My job was to research, develop strategy, implement and manage behaviour change projects and outreach events for the City Access Team. The aim was to influence sustainable travel behaviour (to help the City reach its Sustainable Sydney 2030 Plan goals.) I was brought in to work on campaigns for the Green Square and Erskineville precincts. For Erskineville, I developed a strategic plan and interventions to help influence change. For Green Square, I managed the implementation of an existing plan. (That work involved: end-to-end management of projects, engaging and managing suppliers, developing event plans and applications, site management at events, coordinating booking systems and responding to participant queries, promotion of events in collaboration with the Marketing team, liaising with stakeholders including businesses to promote events, and project evaluation including surveys, collating and interpreting feedback.)

In 2012 I started to think about how I could improve the sustainability of my local area (Clovelly Road.) In 2013 I spotted a brilliant emerging idea in the US - the concept of a one-day pop-up demonstration of a greener, more liveable street (#BetterBlock). The idea was to blitz the local street for the day - bringing in trees, artworks, seating, bike infrastructure and slower traffic - to make it a better, greener, safer and more human place to be. The aim was to involve the community and change people's perceptions of what a street, their street, can be. I pitched the idea to local businesses, residents, community groups, local council and sponsors. I managed the organisation of the project as well as its marketing and promotion. The event attracted 2500 people, 100 volunteers and hundreds of locals who signed a petition supporting street change. The popularity of the project led Randwick Council to take on an urban designer to develop a green Masterplan for Clovelly Road (which was officially adopted by Council in 2020.) I sought and secured sponsors and partners. They included Randwick City Council, Bendigo Bank, Bunnings, UNSW and Andreasen's Wholesale Nursery (who lent us 200 plants and trees for free.) This funding and support helped make the project possible. I also partnered with community groups including the P&C's from Clovelly School and St Anthony's, Rotary, and Bike East. I organised volunteers into mini-discipline teams (based on individual passions) and encouraged & empowered them to take ownership of their section of the project. Teams included Landscape, Traffic, Furniture, Art, Marketing, Business Liaison & Council Liaison, Video & Photography.The new street design for Clovelly Road has been adopted by Council, but we continue to advocate for urban renewal and street change for our little shopping village in Clovelly and Sydney more broadly. Follow our ongoing campaign with 1200+ others at - www.facebook.com/ClovellyRoad

In this contract for the City of Sydney, I conducted research and developed strategy to help the City engage with businesses in the CBD - to encourage the uptake of sustainable transport modes. (This was part of the City's 'Sustainable Sydney 2030' Plan.) The research included face-to-face interviews with small businesses and key stakeholders.Within sustainability, I am interested in the fields of Transport and Business (viz. how business can help bring about change.)

General Assembly is a leading international educator in technology, business, and design. In 2014 I was invited to give occasional talks on how to use content strategy and storytelling to communicate and influence behaviour (for businesses, startups and social change campaigns.)

I co-founded and organised GreenUps - a series of monthly meet-ups for people interested in the environment and sustainability in Sydney. Each event was themed on a different aspect of sustainability - including food, transport, cities, finance, clothing and climate. For each, we brought in 3 specialist guest speakers on the topic. The events quickly became popular and well regarded. In the time I was working on it our member base from zero to over 3000. Each event was averaging about 200 people attending. For a number of events, we partnered with key organisations. I organised events on sustainable transport in conjunction with the City of Sydney and environmental films with the Sydney Film Festival. More at - http://www.meetup.com/GreenUps-Sydney-Green-Drinks

Responsible for managing and delivering a large first-year subject with 400 students, a Campaign subject and an Industry Internship unit. My research and community service work focused on the communication of sustainability and environmental issues and innovations. In 2009, I won the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Sustainability. This was for my work with students using digital media to promote sustainability - in conjunction with the 'Powershift' Conference organised by the Australian Youth Climate Change Coalition (AYCC.) In 2009 I also laid the foundations for new subjects in 'Communicating Sustainability' and 'Digital Media' (now established units in the Comms undergraduate degree.) In 2010 I introduced into my 3rd Year Campaigns subject, a major project which encouraged students to pursue their life's passions and taught them to use blogging and social media to promote their own personal brands - to set up their careers and find work after university. (A number of students did score jobs before they left uni.) The School of Communication Arts has since taken my original idea and extended it to all students in 3rd Year Communications. In addition I taught into a university-wide subject 'Learning through Community Service' in which I worked with students to apply communication skills to promote community projects. In my time at UWS I grew my discipline area in the Communications undergraduate degree from an initial program with 20 core students and 90 other Communication students - to 50 core students and 350 students drawn from across the uni - including Arts, Business, Design and Law as well as Communications. To manage the growth of the program I recruited and managed 4 tutors for 1st Year and found leading industry people (including Jane Caro) to teach into 2nd Year. Project management, discipline leadership, group facilitation and communication skills were key aspects of my work in the School of Communication Arts.

In 2009 I managed and led a multi-disciplinary team of Communications students doing the media coverage of the 'Powershift Conference' on the Parramatta campus. The conference was Australia's first and largest national youth climate summit drawing 1500 youth from every state and territory in the country. The conference was organised by the Australian Youth Climate Change Coalition and led by Anna Rose, Amanda MacKenzie and Ellen Sandell who have since gone on to become influential figures in the environmental movement in Australia. Coverage included interviews with Tim Flannery, Mike Rann (SA Premier), Christine Milne (Greens), John Hepburn (now CEO of the Sunrise Project), as well as filming a large ‘flashmob’ protest at the Sydney Opera House (with 100 dancers.) The media team included students from Video Production, Photography, Journalism, PR, and Advertising. As Project Director I encouraged and empowered the students to take ownership for their section of the project. The work enabled the AYCC to gain awareness for conference themes and ideas nationally and internationally - largely via new digital media platforms. I received a joint Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Sustainability for my leadership of the project and work in communicating key messages from the conference.

Writer, producer and reporter of environmental stories for 2ser (Sydney Educational Radio) which is based at the University of Technology Sydney. My stories ran on the station's current affairs program 'Razor's Edge' and on the morning program ‘The Daily’. I was also an occasional presenter of Razor's Edge. My stories largely covered current affairs topics around the environment and sustainability - including on biofuels, city planning (with Jan Gehl), clean coal (with Karl Kruszelnicki), climate change (Garnaut Review press conference), coastal erosion (with Prof Bruce Thom), desalination, electricity feed-in tariffs, emissions trading, the Green New Deal (with Christine Milne), peak oil, permaculture (with David Holmgren), and whaling (with Paul Watson.) The work involved staying on top of environmental current affairs, identifying emerging topics, researching the topic, finding experts, writing interview questions, conducting the interview, scripting, editing and submitting the audio. In 2008 I produced a stand-alone half-hour program at the station - The Environment Show. I also packaged and released my interviews as short podcasts under The Environment Show banner. The podcast reached Number 4 in the News & Politics section of Apple iTunes above the Channel 9 News in April of 2008.

Responsible for managing and delivering subjects across 1st, 2nd and 3rd Year. The CSU Comms course is a leading provider of graduates for the Australian media industry. I organised a number of practical media projects working on local community causes and businesses with students (including TV commercials that went to air on the local Prime Network.) These projects brought students from a range of disciplines within Communications to work together to achieve the result. One such project was a TV commercial for the RSPCA which featured Brendan Cowell who was in the Theatre course on campus. And a commercial directed by Mike Finch also from Theatre. (Mike went on to become the Creative Director of Circus Oz.) As discipline leader, I took the initiative to take students to see and hear from practitioners in Sydney. And also brought leading media people to guest lecture in Bathurst. One of them was Sean Kidney who owned the Social Change Media agency in Sydney at the time. (Sean went on to found the Climate Bonds Initiative in London.) At CSU I applied for and was awarded a major Federal Government grant to go to India (to research the Indian Communications course market, guest lecture and make connections with Communication institutions.) I also made connections and guest lectured for the uni at institutions in Singapore and Malaysia.

I was Outward Bound Australia's first Marketing Manager. I instigated a major overhaul of the organisation's marketing strategy and communication collateral (which in those days was print.) I also created and produced a TV commercial on a shoestring budget. Outward Bound is an outdoor education organisation that helps young people develop their true potential. It was the world's first outdoor ed program and had a major impact on education in Western countries in the latter half of the 20th Century. It laid the ground for outdoor programs now being used in leading schools in Australia.

The Palace was one of Australia's leading ad agencies. It was highly regarded in the industry and dominated awards for creativity in its time. It was also one of the first to take Communication Strategy seriously (with a dedicated Strategy department.) My work entailed: managing qualitative research, developing communication strategy, presenting creative ideas, presenting media plans, and project management of TV, radio and print advertising production. One of my main roles was to manage a multi-disciplinary internal team - with experts in Strategy, Creative, Production (TV, radio and print), and Media Planning. I worked particularly closely with a Strategy Planner. I was also responsible for liaising with and managing clients. My clients ranged from packaged goods (Selleys) to hotels (Rydges.) I was responsible for the advertising launch of Rydges Hotels in Australia.