A message from the Managing Director – 2021

Have you learned as many new things as I did last year?

 

What a year 2020 was! I’d say it was a rollercoaster, with uncertainties around every corner. But I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was to adapt our work to the new normal. We are fortunate to have great staff and clients who have helped us to weather the storm. We regard 2021 with feelings of hope, optimism and confidence.

 

We have tried to make sense of a buzzword-worthy year 2020 with our Year in Review series.  Here is a summary of our progress in achieving the goals in our Decade's Resolution:

 

Be Heard

Although it seems like a lifetime ago, we began 2020 looking at the Tennis Australia Air Quality Policy that was under the spotlight because of the bushfire-related PM_2.5 levels in Melbourne.

Our 1st article on ‘The impacts of the COVID-19’s mobility restriction measures on the Australian Air Quality’ and its updates have received more than 1,400 views. We are very happy with the broad interest in this work and are looking forward to the upcoming CASANZ conference that will further examine the effect of COVID-19 on air quality.

Drinks with Kate went virtual in 2020! We had some very inspiring guests discussing the role of Creativity at the workplace, the Energy Transition Movement and the insurance market post-COVID-19. We were delighted to see that our video where our guests discussed the impacts of COVID-19 on the electricity transition had more than 2,700 visualisations on LinkedIn!

That’s remarkable support that we are getting from you. And it is a clear indication that great minds think alike! Thank you!

 

Be Supportive

In 2020, we invited everyone to embrace the #clearskiesmatter ethos and started “not-another-lunch-and-learn” to support partnering companies’ Professional Development goals. We discuss the benefits of well-developed air quality and odour studies to the operations of our clients. We have received some very positive feedback and look forward to more events. The whole experience was not only beneficial to our partnering companies but also for our own staff to become better science communicators.

 

Reduce waste

We commenced a series of publications in relation to air quality and waste management in 2020 and we plan to publish these throughout 2021.

We are also interested in reducing our own waste and supporting local institutions that provide the community with opportunities to either fix or repurpose waste.

On a personal note, my daughter was awarded school Environment Captain for 2021. She has taken the role very seriously (read: lots of interesting discussions around the dinner table!) and instigated many campaigns already. In the first week of term, she met with the tuckshop ladies to talk about ways to reduce plastic waste and proposed a “naked food” day. I’m looking forward to seeing what else they come up with!

 

Be Clear

The Weather Intelligence team is working with our customers to ensure that the information we deliver is clear and easy to interpret, right down to the layout, language and colours used in a daily toolbox report.

This year the Katestone team has worked closely with our clients on customising the collection and collation of NPI data. With unique data formats and user requirements it is important to make sure the final product communicates a clear message to our clients.

 

Be Creative

We like to encourage everyone’s creativity, which they express through their work and hobbies. The team produced the following notable creative achievements:

• Simon and Meg in their band, The Double Happiness, launched their first album.
• Michael’s efforts with Shiny Apps has resulted in him creating some cool-looking dashboards for communicating data.
• Plistina bought a sewing machine and learned to sew with the help of Sarah-Jane and Tania!
• Dush shared his Celebrity Chef-side and cooked us Lentil Dahl and Egg Hoppers for brunch. Yum!!
• Tania painted her first commissioned work!

 

Be Healthy

We are back at our planking every day (thanks for putting it in our calendar for 11 am every day Plistina!). The lockdown certainly had some negative impact on our fitness routine, but ever since we came across the 10,000 steps program run by the team at CQUniversity Australia, we have been more motivated. As a group we completed a Tournament in which we virtually walked from Rockhampton to Brisbane and back. Our team walked 1,800,000 steps in a little more than 1 month! Maybe we can walk to Sydney next time? …or Perth!

This year we started with Fit-February where we agreed to a series of challenging mini fitness goals. Thanks, Paddy for the initiative and motivation!

 

What will 2021 bring us?

I’m very optimistic that 2021 will be a much better year. The vaccine is around the corner, the movement to reuse, recycle and repurpose is extending beyond the classroom and enthusiasts to everyday families. I also feel that our response to climate change is gathering pace through electric vehicles, renewables and a broad community awareness. Although 2020 was probably a year to forget for many reasons, perhaps it will be remembered as the year the world changed and hopefully the 2020s will be the decade that action was taken.

 

~ Christine Killip, Managing Director