IAG Annual Conference 2024

I just got back from the annual IAG conference based out of Adelaide this year. IAG was the first conference I attended when I was looking into starting my PhD (when it was based out of Hobart). It was also the first major conference I presented my thesis work (which was online that year due to COVID-19). Now, a few years later, I am feeling more at home in geography as a discipline and with the people whom I am regularly seeing at conferences. This year, I presented two papers that cross all of my current projects and work.

The first paper was based on my freshwater eel collaboration with Where Water Meets. The presentation included a more formulated description of the theory and methods underpinning the research as well as some allegories (as I like to call them) from the project. This was also a major opportunity to connect with a few other keen eel researchers to begin to lay the foundation for a more substantial project about eels. Maybe a book or a long ocean voyage…?

Example poetic carpentry allegory from my IAG 2024 presentation about eels in lutruwita.

My second paper was based on a combination of both my PhD research on local perceptions of climate change risk and my experiences working at Huon Valley Council and seeing how those very perceptions were playing out. I was presenting both as a PhD candidate at UTAS and an employee at Council, which was a unique opportunity to recommend getting into the practice of geography rather than just existing in academia. I noted that there was a significant opportunity for me to change policy on climate change for Huon Valley, which will hopefully form the basis for research into the future.

A post-PhD existence

Everyone talks about how the initial submission of your thesis is anticlimactic. You get all the documents in order (which for me meant jumping through several hoops to ensure the final PDF version had high-quality images, which is a far more difficult task than initially anticipated), slowly upload them to the online system, and then hit submit. There is very little fanfare other than that which you prepare, such as having your supervisors watch the page load with you. You walk out of the room in a bit of a haze, unsure what to do with your time since it doesn't feel right to get to work on one of your many, many projects. And that’s it, at least for a few months.

I was very fortunate to have both ongoing research projects and a full-time job offer at the Huon Valley Council, so even though I needed to take time off (which I certainly did), I was able to occupy the long days that were so used to being full of non-stop work with important tasks. Then, a few weeks or months later, you start hearing back from the journals you submitted chapters to in the last week before submission and get the report back from the examiners who determine how much more of your life will be occupied by the PhD.

Now, with the PhD finalised and the conference of my Doctorate, I find myself grappling between the critical importance of my full-time role (moving Huon Valley through a climate-changed world) and my desire to be in academia (which I seem to sustain through publications and ongoing research). In order to keep my feet in the door, I am always looking for more research projects to attach myself to. So please get in contact if you are interested in my work!

AI generated image of Huon Valley

While there is ongoing contraversy around the existence and use of AI image generators, they are able to create a strange glimpse into the world. Generators like Dall-e and Midjourney began to peak in popularity in the second year of my studies, and I used them for one of my major chapters. This image was used as the cover of my thesis and captures aspects of the Valley that were reflected in many of my participant’s comments about why they value the Huon.