Iris Kostas

5.50 AM

I wake up, get myself out of bed and dress for my 6:10 am gym class, still very much half asleep.

7.00 AM

Back from the gym, I shower, have a quick brekkie, and say hi and bye to my partner who has only just gotten out of bed.

7.30 AM

I’m out the door and taking the lift down and out of my apartment building, looking forward to the ride to work.

7.32 AM

I’m back at my apartment building as I got a flat tyre seconds after leaving the house - a good start to the day! I return my out-of-action bike home and start walking to the train station instead. Going to be a little behind schedule today.

8.00 AM

I’m on the train, travelling from Coburg to our office in East Melbourne.

8.45 AM

I walk through the front door at work. I head to my desk, set up my laptop, open Outlook to check my emails and check my calendar for the day. I say hi to my desk buddy Mia, who sits next to me. I then write a short to-do list to give myself a rough idea of what I’ll be working on today.

9.00 AM

I head out to grab a pre-scheduled quick coffee with another new grad, Alex, who had been telling me about the amazing combination of an oat flat white with a hint of honey. This is one of the first chances we’ve had to have a get-to-know-you chat.

9.15 AM

I’m at my desk and started working on my main task for today – data cleaning in a GIS workspace for a coastal shire council in Victoria that we are in the early stages of a project. I am going through the spatial data we’ve been sent from the client, layer by layer, and classifying the asset information within each layer. This includes layers such as planning scheme overlays, beach and foreshore assets (piers, sea walls, beach access points), building and infrastructure assets, transport, etc.

We will use this information to create hazard exposure maps to see the extent to which valued assets are impacted by current and future coastal hazards, such as sea level rise and inundation events with storm tides. Our future mapping will be taking into consideration different planning horizons, which vary with differing climate change scenarios.

10.00 AM

We have our fortnightly team meeting for Alluvium’s Melbourne office. We discuss ‘people news’, which includes welcoming any new starters, birthdays, etc. We also receive an update on ‘office news’ such as preparations for our upcoming office move, and an update on how the company is tracking financially for the quarter.

There’s a regular presentation from another team member. This week the presentation is being given by one of my team - Steph. She presents some great work done in the Torres Strait, with the communities of the fifteen islands in this region. This involved working with very capable and engaged communities to ultimately co-develop adaptation pathways that they could utilise into the future, out to 2100. These pathways will aid in decision-making and funding application for adaptation actions, dependent on the form, severity and timing of coastal hazard impacts being experienced or anticipated.

11.00 AM

Back at my desk, I continue with my GIS task.

12.30 PM

Lunchtime! While I eat my lunch, I sit in on a screening of the film Durt’Yowan (Latrobe River): The Life Source, which is taking place to celebrate World Rivers Day. The film was created by the West Gippsland CMA, and they offer a Q&A afterwards.

There was a heavy focus in the film on the recognised need for rehabilitation of the river following many decades of its use as a “working river” following European colonisation, which includes the closure of three open-cut brown coal mines in recent times. Many parties are involved in rehabilitation efforts including those such as the CMA, local Friends of Groups, and the Gunaikurnai Traditional Owners, represented by the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation.

1.30 PM

In the second half of today, I don’t have any further meetings or workshops that I’m involved in, so I knuckle down on my GIS work for the remainder of the day. It’s a good time for a second coffee.

5.00 PM

It’s home time!

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