Join EIANZ as we host three speakers from Victoria's Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) that will take you through the new Risk2.0 Project, ranging from how to optimise fuel management zones on the peri urban interface, to how GIS and cloud computing can be used to improved risk to life and property modelling, and finally how DELWP measures ecosystem resilience, the environment’s ability to bounce back after a fire.

Meet the Speakers:

Sarah Loveday | Senior Bushfire Risk Analyst at the Department of Environment Land Water and Planning

In her role as a Senior Bushfire Risk Analyst , Sarah leads the development of pilot tools to assess the effectiveness of fuel management on values including critical infrastructure, water quality, and fire size. Sarah comes from an academic background where she researched the effects of topography on fuel moisture, and undertook a statistical analysis on the effectiveness of prescribed burning in Victoria.

Estrella Melero-Blanca | Senior Bushfire Risk Analyst at the Victorian Department of Environment

Prior to her role as a Senior Bushfire Risk Analyst, Estrella worked as a spatial analyst and project manager across the public and private sectors in Australia, Spain and the Caribbean. Estrella studied Agricultural Engineering in Spain, undertook a year of International Development Studies in Sweden and completed a Master’s degree in GIS and Remote Sensing in Australia. Estrella in passionate about the power of data and analytics to help solve complex problems and support strategy and policy development.

Matt Chick | Fire and Forest Ecology at the Victorian Government

Matt studied Environmental Science, Forest Ecosystem Science, and completed a PhD on Fire Ecology and Land Management in the Otway’s National Park in 2016. Since 2016 Matt has worked on ecological fire management and monitoring as a Biodiversity Officer in the Grampians region and on state-wide fire ecology policy as a Senior Project Officer – Fire and Forest Ecology, both roles being with the Department of Environment, Land, Water, and Planning (DELWP) in Victoria. Matt also holds an emergency management role, which covers general firefighting, planned burn planning, implementation, and monitoring, and rapid emergency risk assessments to biodiversity (when enacted).

This webinar will run on Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST).