PIARN postgraduate workshop - survey results

Fifteen postgraduate students joined senior researchers in Melbourne on 14 February for an afternoon of networking and professional development.

The workshop opened with a presentation from world-renowned agricultural scientist, Professor M.S. Swaminathan, on the need and opportunities for committed young researchers in the field of climate change and food security.

Professor David Karoly, ARC Federation Fellow and IPCC lead author, gave students an update on the latest climate science and climate change predictions, while Dr Mark Howden spoke on his adaptation research. Dr Saffron O’Neill, a Research Fellow with the NCCARF Social, Economic and Institutional dimensions network, gave an insight into engaging the public in climate change and adaptation.

Each student gave a three-minute presentation on their thesis topic, describing its significance to climate change adaptation in the primary industries. Tas Thamo from the University of Western Australia received the award for the best presentation, giving him the chance to present his research on greenhouse gas mitigation on WA farms during the PIARN-sponsored 'Transformational Adaptation' session at the CCRSPI Conference. Tas was recently featured in the PIARN newsletter in a postgraduate profile.

All student participants completed a survey following the workshop, which has provided some valuable feedback on what the PIARN Management Group hopes will become a regular offering for early career researchers.

Overall the PIARN workshop was well-received by the students. In summary, the surveys indicated:

• Strong support for the workshop location, program and speakers;
• Mixed feelings about the usefulness of the 3-minute thesis presentations and some recommendations for improving this process;
• A consistent feeling that more time was required for interaction with speakers;
• Support for the suggestion of holding similar events 6-12 months apart; and
• That improvements could be made to future events, including having theme leaders as speakers, facilitating greater interaction, getting a larger group together and running a longer workshop.

The full report on the survey is available to download below.