Month in review: July 2017

This month started with a scenic flight over the Great Barrier Reef. It was the prize for the winners of a school quiz, which happened in May and our team won. More photos of the scenic flight here. It was also the peak month of the high season here in Cairns, and we received a few friends from New Zealand, which was great. We also bought tickets to go to Brazil later on this year, the trip will include some work and conferences in my native country plus some holiday time with family. Besides that, below is what happened in the professional front.

Research

This month concluded the data collection for the ‘Urban Climate Adaptation: A New Zealand Contribution‘. In total 10 interviews were undertaken and are now in the process of data analysis.

I also started a new research project with Aline Peres entitled ‘Podcasting Urbanism: Promoting Urban Sustainability through Accessible Education and Community Engagement’. We submitted a proposal to the On Sustainability conference and have applied for the JCU Human Research Ethics Committee for approval to undertake our survey.

Writing

In July I finished the final review of a forthcoming journal article to be published in the Environment and Planning B: Urban Analytics and City Science. More on this soon, watch this space!

I also worked as a reviewer for the Singeurb (National Symposium of Urban Engineering Management), which will happen in Brazil in October

Finally, I worked on a book chapter for a microclimate-focused volume.

Teaching

This was the month for an intensive subject at JCU entitled Urban Design Studio (EV5602). This design studio took place in Innisfail and I volunteered to attend and help. The studio happened between 8th and 14th July and I led two lectures and tutorials on drawing and photography for understanding the urban spaces.

I also presented an introductory lecture for Urban Geography and Design (EV2301). This was a very interesting experience, as although JCU has plenty of lectures through videoconferences between campuses, this was the first time I have actually been alone in a room when all students were 400km away in Townsville. Thanks technology!

There was also a breakfast for BLING (Blended Learning and Innovation Grant) where receivers of the grant presented their projects in two minutes. We all presented what we have requested and how it will support students’ learning, and finished with ‘what success looks like’ in this context.

Learning

In the learning front, I attended a workshop targeted at women in academia and focused upon promotion. I have to confess, based on my Brazilian background where 49% of scientific articles are published by women, I prefer to think I am not genderised once I step into the university space, I am a professional and that is it. For this reason I attended this workshop with some reluctance, but left with a very sad feeling of inequality. Our system in Brazil is full of corruption and far from being an example, but gender equality is definitely something that we seem to do better.