What we are working on in May

• preparing media content for Collaborate Innovate 2012, the annual conference of the Cooperative Research Centres Association, and liaising with the media at the conference (15-17 May, Adelaide)
• attending the launch of  the International Water Association’s World Water Congress & Exhibition 2012 in Seoul in preparation for managing the media (and social media) for the congress in Busan in September; writing and editing copy for the conference
• editing a coal-seam-gas technical report for the Queensland Government and writing a plain-English summary
• researching stories for the next edition of CLIMAG for Managing Climate Variability
• running the Climate Champion program
• sourcing, repurposing and publishing content on Climate Kelpie and Managing Climate Variability
• developing an engagement plan for Corangamite Catchment Management Authority’s strategy for healthy rivers, estuaries and wetlands
• collaborating with Bridge8 and Australian Science Communicators on Inspiring Australia’s national audit of science engagement activities
• advising on Inspiring Australia’s evaluation tool project
• setting up a social networking site for fisheries officers of the Secretariat of the Pacific Community’s Division of Fisheries, Aquaculture and Marine Ecosystems (Noumea)
• running Talking science with the media workshops for researchers from the Queensland Government’s Smart Futures Fund
• reviewing research careers for the Australian Council of Learned Academies (with Toss Gascoigne)

• I like this monthly e-newsletter. I trust it. It communicates. That’s because the authors do the hard work for the reader. When it arrives, the reader knows it will need only 3-4 minutes to read. And for that small investment there’s nearly always a dividend. The authors make it attractive and easy to navigate. The sentences are short. This makes the ideas less complicated. This means it communicates. And when the message is always positive, it quickly builds the reader’s trust. You can’t say that about most e-newsletters.

  Greg Clough

  Communication Specialist, Center for International Forestry Research, Indonesia

• You’ll be pleased to know that I trash most newsletters, but always try to have a look through yours. As you say, the art of capturing an idea in a visual way is to simplify without being simplistic.

  Richard Stirzaker

  Principal Research Scientist, CSIRO Land and Water

• The workshops together with booklets were fantastic - managing the media I thought was harder than "climate change" - now it’s been made easier. Good fun - nice group interaction left feeling good /worthwhile allocation of time.

  Jennie Hawkins

  Farmer and participant in the Climate Champion program