About Me

I am currently three years into a PhD in the field of Education for Environmental Sustainability. My research explores the effects of whole-school education for sustainability on the attitudes, behaviour and environmental knowledge of upper-primary school children and their families. I have an honours degree in Marine Science and after graduating in 2006 I worked as the Marine Programs Officer and Lead Guide for a Perth based marine education program. I also have extensive volunteer experience working with youth in various environmental, social and spiritual empowerment programs, especially within the Bahá’í community and with Millennium Kids. These work and volunteer roles have deepened my belief in the positive potential of young people who are informed and empowered to act for environmental issues they care about, and supported and encouraged by their community to do so. After completing my PhD I hope to work in the area of environmental program development, evaluation and refinement with the aim of becoming a consultant.

Monday, September 20, 2010

FarmVille in the flesh

Who needs online games when you can create a farm in real life for free!? Okay so I don't have cows, sheep or other farm animals, or any animals (except fish), but I am getting stuck into my home grown veggie garden! And I definitely feel better for it too. Time spent outdoors in my own garden is a weekly aspiration for me.

Yesterday I managed to fit in a few hours working away in our garden. I had many plans like weeding the patio, mulching a few garden beds and planting succulents along our fence-line but got carried away with the tomatoes instead... Many months ago fifteen little tomato plants sprang up from the soil surrounding a rosemary cutting we were given. At first I thought they were weeds but decided to let them grow out of curiosity. Soon enough they were taller than the rosemary and the shape of their leaves resembled tomatoes, baby tomatoes. So I re-potted them and planted a few next to a well-lit north-facing wall until they all started competing for root space and light. That was until yesterday when I dug out the old coriander patch and transplanted these gorgeous little fruit bearing vines to their new home. I've attached a picture here for you all to admire them as well ;)


For our small area of garden I'm quite proud of these plants and have high hopes for their productivity. Especially since the price of tomatoes is expected to soar in the retail market. But more than that it's such a great feeling watching these plants grow and give life and then completing the cycle by eating their produce. Yuuumm! :P

On a related note some of you will be interested to know that my composting efforts are still going strong. I've learned through trial and error that a 20L bucket isn't large enough to facilitate the heating up of the compost or to allow enough air flow, hence the trouble I had with rotting veggies. So now I've moved to the traditional approach: a heap. The heap is brilliant! No bad smells, easy to turn, and plenty of natural oxygen exchange. It's also adaptable and can expand to any size we want, which is especially useful after a big party or when raking up lots of fallen leaves. Another awesome thing about my compost, although I'm not sure if this is meant to happen, is that a few little signs of life are springing up from the soil beside it. I've got a feeling they're baby pumpkin plants... same deal as the tomatoes I guess, I'll just let them grow and see what results...

Friday, September 3, 2010

Reviewer, reviewee

It's an interesting process reviewing someone else's written work. This week I was asked to peer review a conference paper for the Australian Association of Environmental Education. This was a first for me, and I honestly enjoyed the process. I had to read and critique the twelve page article, then summarise my comments according to criteria in the Reviewer Assessment Form.

Without saying much about the article, because it's all an anonymous process, I will simply say that I particularly enjoyed seeing similarities to mistakes I've made in the past and sometimes still make. Things like active vs passive sentence structure, keeping sentences dynamic and trying not to overstate things or say things in a long-winded way. And defining the terms used to avoid ambiguity or confusion for the reader. I guess it's like being a teacher, you usually learn more through teaching and helping others improve their work than if you were the student getting those reviews. 

Oh, and for those interested I did finish that article I was working on two weeks ago. It's probably being reviewed right now :)