SCI Researcher visiting the University of Melbourne

After many Covid 19-related delays Catherine Walker finally embarked on a three month research visit down under at SGEAS at University of Melbourne. 

The members of the Young People at a Crossroads team met in person for the first time this month, as Catherine arrived to Australia after a long delay caused by the pandemic. Having travelled through heavy rain and storms that brought home the urgency of climate action, Catherine, Ellen van Holstein (RMIT) and project mentor Natascha Klocker (University of Wollongong) spent two days in Wollongong. They discussed the fascinating data generated through the project so far, mapped out their first academic papers and planned their RGS-IBG conference session, where they will be talking about Storytelling towards solidarity: representing diverse experiences of living with a changing climate. Catherine will remain in Melbourne until the end of May. 

While in Melbourne Catherine Walker gave a lunchtime seminar on her Young People at a Crossroads project to the School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences (SGEAS), University of Melbourne. The title of the presentation was ‘Young People at a Crossroads: Researching diverse stories of climate adaptation in Manchester and Melbourne.’ The seminar can be viewed back here.

Catherine also co-chaired a discussion at Earth Unbound, an online research collective coordinated by academics at Deakin University, Melbourne, along with Eve Mayes of Deakin University. The title of the discussion was ‘Striking Stories: Solidarity, Empathy and Hope’.