Hello fellow Plant Success members and friends,
As the end of the year approaches, so does our residency on the Researcher Development Group (RDG). We have been members of the RDG since its inception in 2021 and currently lead the Science Domain. The RDG consists of three domains: Science, Engagement and Wellness, that provide meaningful, high quality professional development to our fellow Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and students, the focus of which span the breadth of scientific life.
The responsibility of the Science Domain particularly, is to organise science-based workshops that help ECRs to be on the edge of knowledge and skill in their fields, as well as on writing training and guidance. During our time on the group, we organised several workshops and events ranging from beginner graphics coding in R to putting together an academic CV, grant writing and social trivia nights. The highlight workshop for us was one on Science Communication delivered by Dr Blake Chapman, who was incredibly engaging and taught us many tricks to presenting our science in the best way possible.
Reflecting on this year, we had a very successful ECR workshop (pictured above) that ran in the days prior to the Centre Research Retreat in Cairns. It was attended by 61 ECRs spanning all Nodes and career stages and was received very well. The ideas for our workshops were generated by our own ECRs in a feedback session run at the 2022 retreat and we have endeavoured to give the people what they asked for. A shameless plug now to remind all ECRs, the group is always using YOUR feedback to develop and design ‘in-demand’ workshops – so please fill in those Centre surveys, or reach out to the group directly to have your say in what happens next.
One of our favourite things about being on the RDG, and being a part of the Centre as a whole, is the collaborations and friendships we get to develop with other Centre members. Every time we get a chance to get together for an in-person RDG workshop we all become a closer group of friends. We feel very lucky to be able to travel and enjoy each other’s company in person!
A thank you must go to the RDG Chief Investigator co-leads Daniel Ortiz-Barrientos and John Bowman who have provided invaluable guidance throughout our tenure on the group. Also, thanks to the support of our fellow RDG representatives, Ola Amoo, Tom Fisher, Sam Barton, Buddhini Ranawaka and Akila Wijerathna Yapa.
A final note, of all of the successes and challenges we have experienced during our time on the group, there is one thing that stands out as the most positive part of our experience and that is working together with Melissa McKain. Melissa is the Centre’s Business Manager, and she supports the RDG in implementing all of our ideas and plans. No workshops would have run this year without her, and we can’t thank her enough for being another amazing woman on our team.
We wish the incoming science domain team Ola Amoo, Arlie Macdonald and Caitlin Dudley the very best of luck for their time on the group.
All the best,
Dr Candice Bywater and Dr Jazmine Humphreys
Postdoctoral Research Fellows, The University of Queensland and University of Tasmania
