Interview with Alice Temblett , Current Science and Planning Graduate

1. What's your name and job title? What did you study? When did you graduate?

● Alice Temblett

● Forest Management and Roading Graduate Officer

● Bachelor of Science Majoring in Environmental Land Management and Climate Science and Macquarie University, Sydney

● Graduated in April 2018

2. Where did you grow up? Important stages of your life (school, education, experience abroad, jobs etc.)

● I grew up in NSW on the Central Coast surrounded by lovely beaches and lush vegetation. I have always loved the outdoors and the environment. So, in school it was natural that I took up biology and geography and they were my favourite subjects. These subjects gave me the skills and the passion to want to help make the world more sustainable and healthier. This only continued to grow throughout my life as I started volunteering at the marine discovery centre while studying a Bachelor of Science. University opened a lot of new avenues as it provided the chance to be able to study and learn specific topics that I was most passionate about. It also brought a lot of opportunities to gain practical experience in the work field and find more direction in what field you would want to work in.

3. How did you get to your current job position? For how long have you had it?

● I applied for the DELWP Science Graduate Program and fortunately got accepted to which I was very excited about. After attending assessment centres and interviews.

● I started the program January 29th, 2018 and have been at Knoxfield in the Assets and Values team working within Cultural Heritage for 8 months. Now I am currently on my second rotation in the lovely office of Powelltown working in the roading and forest management team.

Your work

1. What does your employer do?

● I am employed by the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning DELWP. In which is the State Government department responsible for protecting the environment, management of natural resources, managing water resources, planning, local government, fire and emergency management and property and land.

2. What are your areas of responsibility?

● The areas of responsibility within the roading and forest management team. Is to manage and maintain all roads and tracks within the Yarra State Forest. These roads are normally relativity low-standard and are mainly unsealed. But also maintain recreational sites, running the district action plan and much more.

● At the moment I am leaning alongside my team and learning contractor management, maintenance of roads and project management of recreational sites.

● I have greatly enjoyed all the experiences I have had so far within the graduate program. As it has broadened my skills and has allowed me to learn a lot of new and interesting types of roles within the department.

3. Can you describe a typical work day?

● A typical work day would include waking up at 5:30 and heading to the gym for a class and swim. Then driving to work and arriving around 8am. From then I check all my emails and see what I have on for the day. I could be either driving through nice forests to check up on contractors. Looking at culverts or working in the office. It’s great because not every day is the same and there’s a great balance of getting out in the field but also having time in the office.

4. Suppose a student was considering your career. What would you advise them to study? Are there any soft skills it would beneficial for them to develop? Should they pursue any sort of work experience?

● If you’re a student that would like to work in the department of environment. I would advise you to study any science, environmental, conservation, marine agricultural degree that you are really interested in but also passionate about.

● Skills that would be beneficial include time management and organisation. As these helps you be able to do tasks and complete them in a timely matter. You would really want to work on your people and communication skills as these will be used daily throughout your career. As you most likely will be working with many different people that have all different types of personalities and working types.

● Lastly pursue any opportunity of work experience, as this will greatly expand your set of skills. It will also help you gain new contacts and networks. But allow you to realise what type of work you like and where you would want to work.

5. What sort of person succeeds in your career?

● A person who is willing to always learn on the go and adapt to new working environments. And have great people and communication skills Would be well suited for this kind of career.

Pros and cons

1. What do you love the most about your job? Which kind of task do you enjoy the most?

● I love that my role now is stationed out of the Powelltown office which is surrounded by the spectacular Yarra State Forest. My favourite part is when getting out of the office and driving around to get to sites that we are working on.

2. What’s the biggest limitation of your job? Do you bear a lot of responsibility? Do you have to work on weekends? Is your job physically demanding?

● I wouldn’t say it’s a limitation of my job but one of the many perks of my job is having an emergency role of general fire fighter. In which we respond to bushfire suppression and prevention activities including planned burning. This means that you would be working on weekends when you are on standby and it will be physically demanding. But very rewarding as you get to see places you have never been and meet some great people along the way.

3. What would your career be if you weren’t doing what you’re doing now?

● If I wasn’t in the Science Graduate program I would probably be travelling and working overseas or doing post graduate studies.

A word to the wise...

1. Which three pieces of advice would you give to a current university student? They don’t necessarily have to be related to your role, or even be career-focused.

● At university your surrounded by many opportunities and influential, intellectual people to learn from. Use these resources and gain as much experience. Form either doing extra curriculums programs to undertaking internships. Will help a lot with gaining new practical skills that will help you be prepared for gaining a job in your preferred field of work.

Interview with Sean Warren , Current Science and Planning Graduate

1. What's your name and job title? What did you study? When did you graduate?

My name is Sean Warren, I’m a Graduate Officer within the Forest and Fire Operations Division of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP). I graduated with a Bachelor of Environmental Science (Environmental Management and Sustainability) from Deakin University in 2017.

2. Where did you grow up? Important stages of your life (school, education, experience abroad, jobs etc.)

I grew up in the outer suburbs of Melbourne, always with a connection to the natural environment and the love of the outdoors. Through school I realised that I wanted to pursue a career that would get me outside a good portion of the time, whilst fulfilling my scientific mind. I also wanted to be a firefighter, something which I have been doing since the age of 16 with the Country Fire Authority as a volunteer. These aims put me on the path to my career in forest and fire management within the Victorian State Government.

3. How did you get to your current job position? For how long have you had it?

I first heard about the graduate program whilst undertaking year 10 work experience within the Land and Fire team of DELWP’s predecessor department, DSE back in 2010. Following on from this, I focused on gaining experience in the field of environmental and fire management through volunteer work and during my degree. I started with the department at the beginning of 2018 as part of the Science and Planning Graduate Program. The recruitment process was reasonably competitive, with four stages each focusing on different skills needed for the role. The grad program consists of three eight-month rotations in different locations around Victoria, focussed on learning and development, with an ongoing role at the end of the two years.

Your work

1. What does your employer do?

DELWP oversees Victoria’s planning, local government, environment, energy, forests, emergency management, climate change and water functions and aims to strengthen connections between the environment, community, industry and economy. One of the department’s major responsibilities is the prevention and suppression of fire on all Crown land in Victoria, totalling almost 8 million hectares. This is achieved through the Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) brand, consisting of several agencies, but led by the Forest and Fire Operations Division of DELWP.

2. What are your areas of responsibility?

I have recently commenced my second rotation, based in the Melbourne CBD where my role is contributing to the development of policy, reporting requirements and operational improvement relating to forest and fire management across Victoria. My first rotation based in Traralgon gave me an exposure to the world of State forest management where I participated in all aspects of the management of values and assets across 1.6 million hectares of forest in Gippsland. One aspect of my role which I really enjoy is the ‘fire role’ where most staff have, in addition to their day-to-day job, a role to be involved in fire and emergency management, from on-ground firefighting to management and support roles.

3. Can you describe a typical work day?

In the policy-focussed world of head office, a typical day could involve responding to ministerial requests, developing documentation and engaging with colleagues around the state about the latest improvements in our work. In a regional office, the focus is much more around operational planning and delivery, whether that is fuel reduction, fire suppression, pest and weed management, recreation, Crown land licencing or indigenous cultural heritage management. During summer and autumn, typically the fire management and fuel reduction side of the department is in full swing, with staff, regardless of whether they are from head office or around the regions, being deployed for up to seven days either supressing bushfires or conducting planned burning.

4. Suppose a student was considering your career. What would you advise them to study? Are there any soft skills it would beneficial for them to develop? Should they pursue any sort of work experience?

I would definitely say that studying environmental science has given me an advantage in my career, the skills I learned through the degree have been invaluable. The degree isn’t everything though, in fact it only forms a small portion of the skills one needs to succeed in this career. Any experiences you can pick up both voluntary and paid can be the difference in an interview because you will need that wide-range of experiences at the final stage of any recruitment process.

5. What sort of person succeeds in your career?

Transferrable skills are key, given most roles in the public service require a generalist with strong skills in adaptability, written and verbal communication and teamwork. Whilst being a generalist is important for anyone in the public service, specifically in my career, I do require a sound base of scientific knowledge in all aspects of environmental science and especially fire management. These specialised skills can be taught once you are into a job, but it is always good to have a base-level of skills to fall back on.

Pros and cons

1. What do you love the most about your job? Which kind of task do you enjoy the most?

The best part of working for the department is definitely the fire role, the contribution of all staff in fire and emergency prevention and response is encouraged and there are a number of benefits to participating. Whether your role is supporting the operations in the control centre or out on the ground, like me, everyone’s contribution is valuable. The best part of these roles is going away for up to seven days at a time with great people, travelling across the state and seeing some great countryside, all the while helping to protect the Victorian community from bushfire.

2. What’s the biggest limitation of your job? Do you bear a lot of responsibility? Do you have to work on weekends? Is your job physically demanding?

At present, my biggest limitation is trying to get out in the field as much as possible, being in primarily office-based roles during my time so far. Thankfully, this is likely to change in my third rotation during 2019 with a completely new role in a new team. This isn’t to say I haven’t enjoyed the work while I’m in the office, but like I mentioned at the top, I love the outdoors and I’ll take any excuse to get out in the bush for a day.

3. What would your career be if you weren’t doing what you’re doing now?

I would probably be looking to apply for a career firefighter role in one of the Victorian fire services, although I have been achieving my goal as a volunteer firefighter for eight years now, pursuing it as a career would have been the next step. I am glad to say that with my current career, I not only get to make a difference to the community on the firefighting side but am also able to make a difference in my day-to-day work, no matter how small the contribution.

A word to the wise

1. Which three pieces of advice would you give to a current university student? They don’t necessarily have to be related to your role, or even be career-focused.

● Get as many experiences as you can, voluntary and/or paid, it helps to call on many

examples during your interview.

● Build that network, insights from people on the inside can be the difference.

● Surround yourself with supportive people, family and friends.

A day in the life of; Louisa Masrton , Current Science and Planning Graduate

Name: Louisa

Job Title: Graduate Officer, Natural Environment Programs, Forest Fire and Regions, Department of Environment, Land Water and Planning

University: Deakin University

University course: Bachelor of Environmental Science (Environmental Management and Sustainability)

Year of Graduation: 2017

6:30 First alarm

6:40 Quick wake up, quick breakfast and spend time with the dog

7:00 – 8:00 PODCASTS, PODCASTS & PODCASTS! 1 hour with Richard Fidler from Conversations

8:00 – 8:30 Cup of tea and using Trello planner to plan for the day. Listing all the tasks, emails and people to follow up.

8:30 – 9:00 Respond to a variety of emails ranging from Hair Pin Banksia presentation invites, requests to work with Koalas on French Island or someone has decided to remove vegetation on Crown Land with no permit.

9:00 – 10:00 Drive to a conservation reserve to feed/survey the Helmeted Honeyeater (HeHo).

11:00 – 2:00 Prepare HeHo food, head out to the site with team mates and put out food. Record the birds feeding at the station by their leg band. Once finished, head back to the office.

3:00 – 3:15 Respond to customer enquiries. Examples could be coastal crown land boundaries enquiries, land management enquiries, Committee of Management enquiries.

3:15 – 3:30 Seek advice on a Crown Land boundary, native title, coastal land from a planning specialist colleague, for a customer enquiry.

3:30 – 4:00 Meeting to debrief on one of a variety of projects (e.g. stakeholder analysis, crown land assessment, native vegetation removal permits).

4:00 Send off final emails/call councils for advice on a range of topics/seek advice from other colleagues

4:30 – 5:00 Leave work – 1 more hour of Richard Fidler podcast.

5:00 Prepare a delicious dinner full of veggie goodness

6:00 RELAX!

7:00 Yoga and meditation – most important part of the day!

8:30 Read and bed.

A few tips.

Being a graduate is awesome, as there is great flexibility in your work and projects you can join. If you hear of an awesome project, put your hand up, your help would most likely be greatly appreciated.

Clear and concise communication makes all the difference. Networking (chatting to people in other teams) is integral to understanding the roles and

functions of other teams. A lot of my day revolves around asking advice from colleagues in different teams regarding coastal crown land boundaries to plant identification.

Photo 1. Working with the French Island Koala Management Program

Photo 2. Surveying Hairpin banksia using a GoPro on a stick to take photos of the seed pods after a planned burn.