September NewsStream
Welcome to the Spring NewsStream
How good is it to start to feel some warmth in the sun? Spring is definitely muscling winter out of the way. It is time to throw open the doors and windows of the good old home office and let some fresh air in!
In this sunny spring edition of the NewsStream you will find…..
Speakers Corner: A lot of talking, and I mean a lot, has been happening lately. If you missed it, never fear, you can catch up on it all in this newsletter!
Project Snapshot: Stormwater! Who thought that this could be such a fascinating topic! Have a ready of what Dr Kirsten has been looking into since she joined Streamology.
StreamTeam: The StreamTeam has been growing again! And we are super excited about it! Meet our new team members below, and don’t forget it is Competition Time again. I bet we have you stumped on this one…
So go on, grab a coffee, a cookie, or two, and have a quick read, watch and listen! (actually there is a bit to go through so you may want to double dose that coffee!)
Speakers corner
August was a busy month for the StreamTeam with voices lost from delivering presentations.
10th Australian Stream Management Conference 2-4th August 2021 Online
(Of course the team were hoping to get away to the beautiful NSW north coast for this conference but it was not to be and was held online instead).
Geoff Vietz was on the scientific advisory committee with Tamara Boyd and Ian Rutherfurd and was the session chair alongside Alison Miller for several topics including presentations on:
Lessons learned from waterway management strategies, plans and collaborative actions
Decision support prioritisation approaches for catchment and waterway management
Including human factors and different people in design
“The 10ASM Committee and Professional Conference Organisers did a stellar job of running an engaging conference online and managing multiple concurrent sessions and break out groups. Congratulations to all. ”
Thom Gower
Presented a piece on A new approach to measuring waterway physical habitat for biota.
Christine Lauchlan Arrowsmith
Presented on the fascinating topic of Where geomorphology meets politics: the story of the Barmah Choke on the Murray River
Geoff Vietz
Presented on the new developments of drone monitoring with Assessing waterways from the sky: A new era in monitoring using drones
Stormwater Victoria Webinar
Geoff Vietz spoke on “How do we inform planners, engineers, waterway managers, and decision makers to ensure urban development doesn’t negatively impact waterways?” He explored the Urban Streamflow Impact Assessment (USIA): Informing planning to protect waterway values. USIA enables explicit links to be made between stormwater runoff characteristics and waterway values (social, ecological and geomorphic), through streamflow metrics.
This project was led by Streamology Pty Ltd with @CTEnvironmental, University of Melbourne and Sydney Water.
Seasonal Herbaceous Wetland Source: CHGMA
Project Snapshot:
Innovative stormwater solutions
The StreamTeam have been involved in providing options for stormwater harvesting and reuse for a proposed residential development on a site with highly erodible soils and threatened vegetation communities. The brief was to review previous documentation and advise on knowledge gaps and stormwater management options to minimise runoff that would exacerbate erosion issues that were already significantly impacting waterways and threatened vegetation both on and off site.
StreamTEAM
Streamology is delighted to welcome the newest members to the StreamTeam
Kira Woods - Geomorphologist
Kira is a fluvial geomorphologist with experience in geomorphology, environmental flows, strategy and policy and monitoring and evaluation. With a Bachelor of Arts (Geography) Hon., she investigated inundation patterns on the a river very close to Streamology’s hearts and head office, the Ovens River. She didn’t stop there as she gained a Master of Environment, specialising in Integrated Catchment Management.
When not working Kira loves to get outdoors and spends time camping, kayaking and hiking but equally loves to sit in her favourite armchair and do some knitting. She is also currently indulging her passion for history, completing a part-time Masters.
Dr Kirsten Cowley - Geomorphologist
Dr Kirsten Cowley is a highly experienced environmental scientist within a broad multidisciplinary context. With a background in contaminated lands consulting and environmental project management within government agencies, she is adept at implementing scientific best practice to provide practical environmental solutions for clients.
Her PhD on the hydro-geomorphology of upland swamps examined the nexus between urbanisation and water quality, hydrology, sedimentology and carbon storage of fragile upland wetlands.
Recently she has worked with non-profit organisations to develop a science-based monitoring and assessment process for at-risk wetlands. Her most recent work involved investigations into surface water-groundwater connectivity within a coastal lake system near Sydney with implications for land use management.
In her spare time she loves riding horses and exploring upland river systems.
Fearn Sinclair - Office Admin
Fearn is an Office Coordinator with many years’ experience in all areas of finance and administration, mostly within professional services environments. Fearn is interested in maintaining team cohesion and best process to ensure business efficiencies.
When Fearn isn’t working, she enjoys music, art and theatre. Fearn is a sewist with a keen interest in costume construction.
Could you be part of the StreamTeam?
Do you want to join a growing boutique environmental consultancy working throughout Australia? We are always on the lookout for great people. You could be a field assistant, data crunchers, senior project managers, drone operators, environmental scientists, geomorphologist, hydrologist, water engineer, the list goes on and on. But importantly you have to have passion for what you do and what you deliver. If this sound like you, drop us a line at admin@streamology.com.au
What River is this?
The winner from the last competition was Andrew Sharpe who was quick to respond with Steavensons Falls, Marysville, VIC! Great job Andrew. We ended up making a donation to a charity of Andrew’s choice instead of the gift, and The RBMS was the lucky recipient!
Can you guess the river in the picture? Be the first to email in with the correct answer and Streamology will again make a donation to the charity of your choice!
How can we help you?
Did you know, the StreamTeam love solving problems. So if you have a water or waterway problem that you are needing some advice on we are here to help. It could be about runoff in urban areas, it could be that a development is about to happen and you need to check out the soil type in relation to how it reacts with water, it could be that you need more information about the flows and erosion, or you may not be able to exactly work it out yet, but you know you need help. We ask the questions to work out the problems to get you the solution or the strategy needed to help your team and your environment. Send us an email and we will get the right person to give you a call to discuss.
Thanks for reading, until next time
The StreamTeam