A week of learning

Hi there! My name is Dale, I’m studying a Diploma of Conservation and Land Management at the Gordon TAFE. This past week I’ve been undertaking work placement with Deirdre Murphy at the Corangamite CMA.

During this time, I’ve travelled to different areas the CMA covers including Ballarat, Daylesford, Peterborough, Birregurra, Gellibrand and the Colac office. I began my week spending a bit of time in the Geelong office sitting in on a few meetings and phone calls, as well as working on a project plan for an upcoming project in Barwon Heads, which I continued to work on throughout the week. While it was a little difficult being in an office all day, I found it really beneficial to see what happens on the other side of field work.

Out in the field I helped to inspect a site in Daylesford to create a SWMS for an upcoming WaterWatch training day, travelled to Peterborough where a talk on the Index of Estuary Condition was being held for local EstuayWatchers and was lucky enough to tag along to a property in Gellibrand to check a few remote sensor cameras. These cameras had captured short and long nosed bandicoots, wallabies, kangaroos, a few birds, a koala and a fox.

Prior to my time at the CMA I had limited knowledge on water testing and water bugs so I was able to build on my knowledge by learning more about EstuaryWatch, Waterwatch and the National Waterbug Blitz, happening in October.

Overall, my week of placement was fantastic! I enjoyed a good mix of office and field work, met some really nice people and have learnt skills that I will be able to take with me to future jobs!