NSW Rural Fire Service Library
New books, reports and articles in the library
July 2023
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Audiobooks (New books added!) |
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Fire incidents - Australia
Fire : a message from the edge of climate catastrophe (Book)
By Margi Prideaux, 2023
In 2019 and 2020 fires ripped across Kangaroo Island's iconic landscape. Prideaux’s book not only captures the emotional journey she and her husband experienced after losing their home and farm during that tragic season, but also chronicles a community's journey through trauma and climate grief.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
Indicators of community disaster fatigue: A case study in the New South Wales Blue Mountains (Journal article)
A succession of disasters affecting eastern Australia left communities, regions, and states with physical, mental, and resource exhaustion during 2019–2022. Fire, pandemic, and flood occurred in successive waves, hampering recovery efforts. We propose the phenomenon of community disaster fatigue to explain the failure of a community to recover, effectively function, and move forward following a series of disasters. To investigate indicators of community disaster fatigue, we undertook a case study in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales (NSW) and interviewed community leaders.
Use this Science Direct publisher’s link to read the article online.
Fire incidents - International
Fire weather : a true story from a hotter world (Book)
By John Vaillant, 2023
Contact the library to borrow this book.
‘Zombie fires’ in the Arctic: Canada’s extreme wildfire season offers a glimpse of new risks in a warmer, drier future (News article)
The Conversation, 18 July 2023
As global temperatures rise, fires are also spreading farther north and into the Arctic. New research on the exceptional Arctic fire seasons of 2019 and 2020 points to fires moving into the ground as well.These underground fires are known as “zombie fires,” and there are a number of reasons to worry about the trend. First,they can burn slowly and release vast amounts of smoke into the atmosphere. Second, soil fires that spread underground are harder for firefighters to tame and extinguish, thus demanding more resources for longer periods of time.
Use The Conversation link to read the article online.
Perspectives on the Future of Fire Insurance in California (Briefing note)
Risk Frontiers, June 2023
In February 2023, US national insurance company State Farm sought permission from the California Department of Insurance to increase rates on homeowners by an average of 28.1% in response to increasing wildfire risks and skyrocketing construction costs. This briefing reviews recent developments that have impacted the cost and availability of fire insurance in California, and describes the most recent events in PG&E’s entanglement with deaths and losses caused by fires that it sparked during the past decade.
Use this Risk Frontiers link to read the briefing note online.
Inflection Point (US journal article)
NFPA Journal, May 2023
Two years after the founding of an ambitious national wildfire policy initiative, US NFPA's wildfire chief sees many encouraging signs. But progress remains slow, and the process is complex.
Use this NFPA link to read the article online
Firefighting
Preparing for the Wildland Fire Response: A New Thought on LCES (Magazine article)
Fire Engineering, June 2023
Pick any day of the week, month, or weather season, and you will see fire service organisations responding to wildfires everywhere. Any firefighter who has been involved in wildland fire response of some type has almost certainly heard the acronym LCES-Lookouts, Communications, Escape routes, and Safety zones. Firefighters can use the LCES acronym to help decrease the potential of a burnover or shelter deployment incident in the wildland fire response. It also allows any firefighter to act as a lookout, provide appropriate communications related to the fire environment, and help other firefighters develop risk mitigation considerations in establishing escape routes and safety zones. However, for this article, the authors look from a "30,000-foot view" of leading and managing the wildland fire response. As someone who may be in that role, how can you do a better job in managing the resource or providing firefighters with the ability to operate safely, efficiently, and effectively?
Use this library link to download the article.
The Effect of Leadership Style on Firefighters Well-Being during an Emergency (Journal article)
Fire, Vol 6 June 2023
Leaders are crucial to ensuring the well-being of their subordinates. This study aims to understand the effects of two leadership styles (empowering vs. directive) on subordinates’ well-being in an emergency situation (i.e., rural fire). A simulation study was conducted with two experimental conditions (empowering vs. directive leadership), and the subordinates’ stress levels were measured before and after the simulated episode. Contrary to expectations, empowering leadership had no significant effect on subordinates’ stress levels, while directive leadership contributed to reducing them. As expected, this effect was stronger for the subordinates with higher levels of stress prior to the simulated episode.
Use this MDPI link to read the article online.
Wildland Briefings: Create Impact with Context and Incident Specifics (Magazine article)
Fire Engineering, June 2023
An incident briefing is among
The most important tasks of an incident commander (IC) or leader. The situational awareness (SA) intelligence and the leader's intent message delivered in an operational briefing are invaluable for the entire operation's success and for individuals in managing stress. An impactful briefing depends on determining what information is essential, converting it to intelligence, and filtering it down to essentials.
Use this library link to download the article.
Coordinating ventilation : supporting extinguishment and survivability (Book)
By Nicholas Papa, 2021
Ventilation can make or break the outcome of a fire. Ensuring its success requires a knowledge of how it works and what precautions must be taken. This US book examines ventilation and its relationship to fire behaviour to identify how it affects the fire, operations, and—most importantly—victim survivability.Ventilation can be universally applied, from the smallest rural community to the largest metropolitan city.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
The supe's handbook : leadership lessons from America's hotshot crews (Book)
By Angie Tom, 2021
This best-practices guide and oral history is written for wildland firefighters and anyone else looking for insights into living and working as a hotshot. These successful US hotshot crew leaders share: Advice for starting and building a career in wildland fire; Best practices for hiring, training, and leading; Tips for balancing a demanding, dangerous job with home and family life; Honest discussions about handling the heavy stuff: mistakes, burnout, heartbreak, death; Memories of the past and ideas for the future Hilarious stories about their fellow supes There are easier careers with higher pay or greater glory, but hotshot supes still say they have the best job in wildland fire.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
Breathing fire : female inmate firefighters on the front lines of California's wildfires (Book)
By Jaime Lowe, 2021
Of the thousands of firefighters who battle California’s blazes every year, roughly 30 percent of the on-the-ground wildland crews are inmates earning a dollar an hour. Approximately 200 of those firefighters are women serving on all-female crews. In Breathing Fire, Jaime Lowe expands on her revelatory work for The New York Times Magazine. She has spent years getting to know dozens of women who have participated in the fire camp program and spoken to captains, family and friends, correctional officers, and camp commanders. Lowe’s reporting is a groundbreaking investigation of the prison system, and an intimate portrayal of the women of California’s Correctional Camps who put their lives on the line, while imprisoned, to save a state in peril.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
This book is also available to listen to in our audiobook collection.
NFPA, July 2023
Few topics are as hot right now in the fire service as consumer lithium-ion batteries. While electric vehicles and e-bikes still get the bulk of attention, residential energy storage system (ESS) installations are also starting to skyrocket as homeowners realise the value of storing their solar power and having a reliable source of backup electricity. But when these large home batteries fail, it can present a host of difficult challenges for responders, and urgency is building to develop better guidance and tactics.
This podcast talks to Adam Barowy and Sean DeCrane, two leading experts on lithium-ion battery hazards and the fire service. They discuss what researchers are learning by burning these batteries, and how that knowledge is helping to improve the fire service
Use this NFPA link to listen to the podcast.
Prescribed burning
Research supports use of managed and prescribed fires to reduce fire severity (ScienceDaily News)
In a study recently published in Forest Ecology and Management, scientists found that fires in America's dry conifer forests are burning hotter and killing more trees today than in previous centuries. Dr. Sean Parks is a research ecologist with the USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station. He and his colleagues used satellite data to characterise fire severity in dry conifer forests during a contemporary timeframe (1985-2020), and then compared it to fire severity during a historical timeframe (1600-1875). Their results show that without frequent, low-severity fires, like those experienced in the past, fires that burn today are more severe and more likely to kill trees.
Use this ScienceDaily link to read the news article online.
Fighting Fire With Fire: The Power of Prescribed Burns To Curb Megafires in California, Oregon, and Washington (US News item)
SciTechDaily, June 2023
New research from Harvard University, the U.S. Forest Service, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicates that controlled burns – particularly in coastal areas of northern California and the Pacific Northwest – could dramatically reduce the overall amount of wildfire smoke exposure in vulnerable rural communities and dense population centres across the West.
The researchers, using a computer chemical transport model and wildfire data, found that the population-weighted smoke exposure across the West during the September 2020 fires was 44 μg/m3 but would have been 20%–30% greater had these wildfires occurred in October or November.
Open this article using this SciTechDaily link.
Use this Wiley publisher link to read the related journal article Prescribed Burns as a Tool to Mitigate Future Wildfire Smoke Exposure: Lessons for States and Rural Environmental Justice Communities online.
Indigenous Fire Management
Before the colonists came, we burned small and burned often to avoid big fires. It’s time to relearn cultural burning (News article)
The Conversation, 22 June 2023
Author Robbie Williams shares his indigenous knowledge and discusses cultural burns - cool, low intensity burns which stay on the ground and their difference to more intense hazard burns.
Use The Conversation link to read the article online.
Learning and Professional Development
Brainstorming with AI (Magazine article)
TD : Talent Development, July 2023
AI is everywhere. One area where it is poised to make a significant impact in L&D is in content design and development. AI-powered programs with sophisticated algorithms, such as ChatGPT, are on the verge of revolutionising the way we create and deliver learning content. However, it's important to understand that AI is not a panacea. Effective integration of generative AI into the development process requires careful consideration and planning.
Use this EBSCO link to read the article online.
How Virtual Reality Is Changing Firefighter Training (US Podcast)
NFPA, June 2023
Incredible advancements are being made around using virtual reality to bolster firefighter training. Some fire departments are even using VR to educate the public about fire safety. Today on the podcast, we talk to Ken Willette, executive director of the North American Fire Training Directors, about what’s available on the market now, where the technology is headed, and how fire departments can best implement this technology into their training programs.
Use this NFPA link to listen to the podcast.
What to Do About Lazy Brains (Magazine article)
TD : Talent Development, August 2023
As professionals whose job it is to change the way people think, make decisions, and behave, we can use that to our advantage. By understanding how the human brain was designed to be lazy, L&D practitioners can find a better path toward designing learning that promotes behavioural change.
Use this EBSCO link to read the article online.
Alight : a story of fire and nature (Book)
By Sam Lloyd and illustrated by Samantha Metcalfe, 2023
Fire is a natural part of the Australian bush. This is a story about that relationship - fire that breathes life back into nature. Alight shares the story of Australian native plants and animals during a planned fire. Discover how the fire helps Christmas Bells grow new flowers and Wallum Banksia to open its woody seed capsules. Follow Antechinus and a tiny Wallum Sedge Frog as they face the danger of the fire. See how the bush recovers and flourishes after the fire, all under the watch of Old Eucalypt. Alight is a gentle exploration of the importance and benefits of healthy fire in the bush. Recommended for children ages 6 to 9 years old.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
Wombat, the reluctant hero (Book)
By Christian Trimmer and Rachel Gyan, 2023
Contact the library to borrow this book.
Our Children’s Bush Fire Collection webpage is here and some of our favourite picture books are listed here, available to borrow.
Incident Management Handbook (Handbook)
Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience,2023
The Incident Management Handbook presents nationally agreed principles for good practice in incident management.
Incident management includes the activities undertaken to:
· prepare for an effective response to an incident
· respond to an incident
· enable an effective transition to recovery.
Effective management of an incident can assist in limiting the scale of consequences arising from the incident. Consequences can include death, injury, psychological distress, financial loss, disruption to an entity or community, reputational damage, environmental damage and loss of confidence and trust.
Use this AIDR link to download the handbook.
The Australian Disaster Resilience Handbook Collection is available online here.
Natural disasters: strategies and responses (Parliament of NSW Paper)
By Rowena Johns, Parliamentary Research Service (NSW), May 2023
Planning for natural disasters and dealing with their aftermath involve input from federal, state and local governments, emergency agencies, non-government organisations and affected communities. This paper focuses on the ‘black summer’ bushfire season of 2019-20 and major flooding in 2022 in New South Wales.
Use this APO link to open the paper.
Community experiences of the January – July 2022 floods in New South Wales and Queensland (NHRA Research Report)
Natural Hazards Research Australia, May 2023
This report details a set of policy-relevant themes selected from a large mixed method post-event study of flood impacted residents of the Australian states of Queensland (QLD) and New South Wales (NSW). This research was funded by Natural Hazards Research Australia, with the support of Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES) and NSW State Emergency Service (NSW SES). The focus was on community experiences of the eastern Australia floods, January – July 2022.
Use this NHRA link to read more about the Community experiences of the 2022 Australian floods research and to download the Queensland and NSW flood final report and summary report.
Resilience policing and disaster management during Australia's Black Summer bushfire crisis (Journal article)
Policing landscapes are being transformed by disaster risks associated with climate change. ‘Resilience policing’ is described as an emergent model of security governance that builds upon established state-based community policing traditions to support the management of these complex risks and hazards. This article explores these questions by considering how local police contributed to disaster management activities in a remote rural community which was directly impacted by Australia's catastrophic Black Summer bushfires in 2019–20.
Use this Science Direct publisher’s link to read the article online.
Conceptualising risk communication barriers to household flood preparedness (Journal article)
Urban Governance, Volume 3, Issue 2, June 2023
Accelerating flood risk is outstripping household preparedness, leading to higher costs when disasters occur. This has profound implications for the governance of urban areas on and around floodplains which often hold most of the responsibility for managing this risk. Effective community-wide flood preparedness strongly depends on human behaviour patterns before (yet-to-be experienced or imagined) unprecedented events. Whilst education is an accepted approach to changing human behaviour patterns, risk communications have not succeeded in prompting preparedness.
Use this ScienceDirect publisher link to read the article online
What causes mudslides and floods after wildfires? Hint: It's not what scientists thought (ScienceDaily News)
Scientists once assumed that flooding and mudslides after wildfires were linked to the waxy coating that builds up on charred soil, preventing water absorption. Researchers found that water flow came from absorbed water in both burnt and unburnt areas, suggesting that water was, in fact, being absorbed into burnt ground. The discovery provides valuable insights into where and when potential flooding and mudslides may occur and how landscapes recover after a wildfire.
Use this ScienceDaily link to read the news article online.
Use this Nature Communication link to read the related journal article Importance of subsurface water for hydrological response during storms in a post-wildfire bedrock landscape online.
Asia-Pacific disaster report 2023: Seizing the moment: targeting transformative disaster risk resilience (Report)
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 25 July 2023
The Asia-Pacific Disaster Report 2023 demonstrates that the existing disaster risk hotspots are forecasted to face more frequent and intense disasters and new risk hotspots are expected to emerge. Climate change-induced disasters pose an increasingly serious threat to the Asia-Pacific region and climate disaster-related losses are already enormous. In 2022 alone, over 140 disasters struck the region, leading to over 7,500 deaths, affecting over 64 million people and causing economic damage estimated at US$57 billion.
Use this ESCAP link to download the report.
Identifying water sources for aerial firefighting (NHRA Research Report)
Natural Hazards Research Australia, May 2023
During active fire events, aerial firefighting units are dispatched by members of the National Aerial Firefighting Centre (NAFC). NAFC members use a variety of data sources to help identify locations for helicopters and fixed wing aircraft to access water. For effective decision making, current and accurate information is critical. This project identified how existing Geoscience Australia (GA) Digital Earth Australia (DEA) satellite-based data products could be tailored to suit the needs of NAFC.
Use this NHRA link to read more about the Identifying water sources for aerial firefighting research and to download the final report.
Remote sensing of natural hazards Book)
By Jay Gao, 2023
This book presents a robust overview of remote sensing technology used to gather information on a variety of natural hazards. It clarifies how to yield spatial and quantitative data on a natural hazard, including its spatial distribution, severity, causes, and the likelihood of occurrence. The author explains several methods of attaining data and the pros and cons of each, offering a practical approach in data analysis using the most appropriate methods and software.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
The Black Summer bushfires put an enormous strain on families with young children. We can’t make the same mistakes again (News article)
The Conversation, 26 June 2023
New research, a collaboration between the Australian Breastfeeding Association and Western Sydney University, highlights the challenges faced by the parents of very young children in disasters, and how we need to support them. The researchers looked at families affected by Australia’s catastrophic Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20 and found there are lessons for how we prepare for, and manage, any type of future emergency.
Use The Conversation link to read the article online.
The project webpage, and findings and recommendations from the related report Want to help the children? Help the parents’: Challenges and solutions from the Babies and Young Children in the Black Summer (BiBS) Study can be found online here.
Shaping Children’s Knowledge and Response to Bushfire Through Use of an Immersive Virtual Learning Environment (Journal article)
Journal of Educational Computing Research, Vol 6, no 6, 2022
A problem-based immersive virtual environment (IVE) about bushfire safety was developed as a learning tool for children aged 10–12. Its effectiveness was assessed in relation to children’s ability to determine how to be safer in a bushfire incident. A series of experiential activities were developed in the IVE with digital storytelling and two-stage embedded assessments providing children with an opportunity to engage with tasks and solve problems while receiving feedback on their performance. Changes from pre- to postsurvey results showed positive learning outcomes as evidenced by significant improvements in children’s knowledge of bushfire safety and confidence in their ability to contribute to decisions during a bushfire incident.
Contact the library to request a copy of this article.
Natural Environment
The Earth transformed : an untold history (Book)
By Peter Frankopan, 2023
Historian Peter Frankopan reconnects us with our ancestors who, like us, worshipped, exploited and conserved the natural environment - and draws salutary conclusions about what the future may bring. In this revelatory book, Frankopan shows that engagement with the natural world and with climatic change and their effects on us are not newUnderstanding how past shifts in natural patterns have shaped history, and how our own species has shaped terrestrial, marine and atmospheric conditions is not just important but essential at a time of growing awareness of the severity of the climate crisis
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
The memory of trees : the future of eucalypts and our home among them (Book)
By Vicki Cramer, 2023
Most Australians see their world through Eucalypts. From the towering forests to straggly woodlands, in city parks, by the coast and in the bush, these are the trees that inhabit our familiar landscapes and national psyche. Yet the resilience of our eucalypt ecosystems is being tested by logging and land clearing, disease and drought, fire and climate change. In many places they are a faded remnant of those known by past generations. How important is the memory of these trees? In search of answers, Vicki Cramer takes us on a journey through the richest botanical corner of the continent, exploring forests of rugged jarrah and majestic Karri, woodlands of enduring salmon gum and burnished-bark gimlet
Contact the library to borrow this book.
A conservation-significant threatened mammal uses fire exclusions and shifts ranges in the presence of prescribed burning (Journal article)
International Journal of Wildland Fire, Online 31 July 2023
To understand mainland quokkas’ use of habitat in relation to prescribed burns, and the effectiveness of fire exclusion within quokka range and habitat, we tracked movement patterns of 20 quokkas before and after prescribed burns and examined the important interactions between quokkas and prescribed fire in a flammable and fragmented landscape.
Use this IJWF link to read the article online.
Meteorology and Climate Change
2023/24 El Niño for Australia (Expert Commentary)
CSIRO, 7 June 2023
The Bureau of Meteorology has announced that we can expect to move out of the current neutral phase of the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and that there is a 70% chance of El Niño forming in 2023. CSIRO researchers explain the significance of El Niño conditions for Australia’s primary producers and communities, as well as for ecosystem recovery and disaster preparedness for this coming bushfire season in southeast Australia.
Use this CSIRO link to read the commentary online.
Dr Karl's little book of climate change science (Book)
By Karl Kruszelnicki, 2021
In this never dull, easy-to-understand guide, Australia's favourite science guru, Dr Karl, explains the science of climate change and how we can fix it. How do Greenhouse Gas molecules shimmy and shake to trap 400,000 Hiroshima atom bombs' worth of the Sun's heat each day? Who did the early research into Climate Change and then spent billions trying to cover it up? Why was Sydney the hottest place on Earth on 4 January 2020? Find out the answers to these questions -- and much more!
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
Adventures in climate science : scientists' tales from the frontiers of climate change (Book)
Edited by Wendy Bruere, 2023
These tales of adventure from remote and remarkable parts of the Earth explore a multitude of ways the world is changing and explain the science behind exactly what those few degrees mean. Scientists share their own stories about falling into crevasses, facing sharks, surviving cyclones, chasing pirates on the high seas, and more. Along the way, they examine critical elements of climate change, including sea ice and glacier melt, rising sea levels, bushfires, collapsing ecosystems, shifting ocean currents, and extreme weather events.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
This book is also available as an eBook. Open our eBook collection here
Three things to know: Climate change's impact on extreme-weather events
University of Pennsylvania, 3 July 2023
Researchers found that the effects of climate change on the intensity, frequency, and duration of extreme weather events, like wildfires, could lead to massive increases in all three. The researchers document the deleterious effects of increasingly severe droughts and wildfires occurring in the past three years.
"Two standout events," Michael Mann, professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science says, "were the 2020 California wildfires and the 2019-20 Australian bush fire season, which lasted nearly one whole year and came to be known as the Black Summer. These are known as compound drought and heat wave (CDHW) events and refer to situations wherein a region experiences both prolonged hot temperatures and a shortage of water."
Use this ScienceDaily link to read the news article online.
Line in the sand : a life-changing journey through a body and a mind after trauma (Book)
By Dean Yates, 2023
Contact the library to borrow this book.
Happy (and other ridiculous aspirations) (Book)
By Turia Pitt, 2022
In this book, with her characteristic humour and gutsy intelligence,* Turia Pitt goes on a quest to answer the question, Is it possible to be happier? What does she discover on her journey? Turia unpacks all of the above with easy-to-implement tips and strategies, hilarious insights into her own life and relationships, and introduces us to some of the world's most fabulous people along the way
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
By Sarah Edelman, 2013
The bestselling practical and reassuring guide to overcoming self-defeating thoughts and behaviours, using cognitive behavioural therapy. It provides practical strategies for overcoming negative thoughts and behaviours, and taking control of emotions such as anxiety, depression, frustration, anger and guilt. It also describes techniques for enhancing self-esteem, improving communication skills and developing greater personal happiness.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
Mental preparedness : psychological crisis resilience and response (Podcast)
Crisis Response Journal, 10 July 2023
In this podcast, Matthew Porcelli, one of CRJ's advisors, speaks with Elizabeth Goetter, Director, PsyD Program, and Associate Professor, Department of Psychology at La Salle University. The two explore mental health, crisis management, and psychological resilience. Listen on if you're interested in learning more about crisis response, intervention, and mental health.
Use this CRJ link to listen to the podcast.
Marshland Rescue Provides Valuable Lessons (Magazine article)
Fire Engineering, July 2023
One of the most difficult rescues is in wetlands and marshlands. Site conditions include high and low water, deep mud and muck, dense vegetation, and hot and cold weather conditions as well as adverse weather. As people become more environmentally aware and want to get out and commune with nature, the number of rescues of people, especially those visiting wildland areas from inner cities who are not aware of the dangers, has increased dramatically. This article will share some lessons learned from a dangerous, difficult, and long-duration rescue conducted in Sullivan County, New York.
Use this library link to download the article.
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Belonging : the ancient code of togetherness (Book)
By Owen Eastwood, 2021
Whakapapa.You belong here. Whakapapa is a Maori word which embodies our human need to belong. It represents a powerful spiritual idea - we are all part of an unbroken and unbreakable chain of people who share a special culture. Owen Eastwood places this concept at the core of his methods to maximise a team's performance. In this book he reveals, for the first time, the secrets to what has made him one of the most in-demand Performance Coaches in the world.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
Brad Borkan discusses decision-making (Podcast)
Crisis Response Journal, 7 July 2023
Book author Brad Borkan, who has written several articles in the CRJ, provides his background and thoughts on achieving a better understanding of human decision making, especially in crisis conditions.
Use this CRJ link to listen to the podcast.
Hardwired humans : successful leadership using human instincts (Book)
By Andrew O'Keeffe, 2011
In a convincing and witty approach, 'Hardwired Humans' explains both why people behave as they do at work and also the implications of how leaders can make practical use of the insight to lead more successfully. The convincing side of the book is in explaining the significance of our change in habitat just 250 years ago with the Industrial Revolution that. The book explains the science of the 9 human instincts and the how leaders can best use the instincts to lead more successfully.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
The leap to leader (Magazine article)
Harvard Business Review, July/August 2023
The author, Adam Bryant, has conducted in-depth interviews with hundreds of CEOs and other executives for the New York Times feature “Corner Office” and his leadership series on LinkedIn, and he has coached hundreds of high-potentials. In this article he shares the lessons that emerged about the mental shifts needed to make a successful transition to a senior leadership position. The process involves identifying and communicating your core values and learning how to approach tough decisions.
Use this EBSCO link to read the article online.
Provocation as leadership : a roadmap for adaptation and change (Book)
By Maxime Fern and Michael Johnstone, 2023
To create deep change you have to disturb people, or at least risk doing so. Shaking people out of their comfort zones not only generates the possibility of change but also elicits new information and brings out hidden resources that people need to navigate unfamiliar waters. Nevertheless, provoking without antagonising or shutting people down and tolerating their pushback are complex challenges, requiring skill and will. This is the first comprehensive provocation roadmap. Examples include how two Australian farmers challenged centuries-old farming practice to regenerate their properties and how a large American bank used the death of a revered CEO to reinvigorate the business.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
Firefighter Stress, Anxiety, and Diminished Compliance-Oriented Safety Behaviors: Consequences of Passive Safety Leadership in the Fire Service?(Journal article)
Fire, Vol 6 June 2023
Safety-specific passive leadership has been negatively linked to diminished safety outcomes, including safety behaviours. Research has not fully examined mediating factors that may be influenced by passive leadership, which then influence safety behaviours. Research among firefighters in this context is particularly absent. As such, this study aimed to examine relationships between safety-specific passive leadership, stress, anxiety, and compliance-oriented safety behaviour outcomes among 708 professional firefighters.
Use this MDPI link to read the article online.
The art of risk (Book)
By Richard Harris, 2023
'Harry' Harris - Thai Cave Rescuer, joint Australian of the Year - has an unusual idea of fun, he crawls through pitch-black, confined caves, deep underground and usually underwater. He's prepared for all conceivable risks, he's completely focused. And the discipline and danger involved leave him better prepared for everyday life. In this ultimate armchair adventure, Harry takes us into the lives of other 'risk-takers', to find out why they do what they do. We meet people adventuring from the highest skies to the deepest oceans - BASE jumpers, drag racers, sinpers and surfers - including climber Alex Honnold (from the movie Free Solo), sailor Jessica Watson, film director and deep-sea diver James Cameron.
Contact the library to borrow this book.
Designing your life : build the perfect career, step by step (Book)
By Bill Burnett & Dave Evans, 2018
Whether we’re 20, 40, 60 or older, many of us are still looking for an answer to that perennial question, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ In Designing Your Life, Silicon Valley design innovators Bill Burnett and Dave Evans use their expertise to help you work out what you want – and how to get it. Their phenomenally successful Life Design course has been tried and tested by thousands of people, from students to mid-career professionals to retirees contemplating a whole new future.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
Designing your work life : how to thrive and change and find happiness at work (Book)
By Bill Burnett & Dave Evans, 2020
We will spend up to 120,000 hours at work in our lifetimes. But how best to use those hours is one of our most challenging questions. We all want to find meaning at work, but our managers can't get it for us. It's up to each of us to define and find our own happiness in this ever-moving landscape, which is rich with opportunity and possibility. Designing Your Work Life helps you understand the politics and psychology of work and equips you with the 'design thinking' principles - the innovative methodology pioneered at Stanford that has been fuelling the growth of Silicon Valley - to build a working life that works for you.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
Designing your life : how to build a well-lived, joyful life (Book)
By Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, 2016
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER – Every design starts with a problem that a designer or team of designers seeks to solve. In this book, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans show us how design thinking can help us create a life that is both meaningful and fulfilling, regardless of who or where we are, what we do or have done for a living, or how young or old we are. The same design thinking responsible for amazing technology, products, and spaces can be used to design and build your career and your life.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
Invention to Innovation : How Scientists Can Drive Our Economy (Book)
By Dr Larry Marshall, 2023
This book, published by CSIRO, charts a course for scientists, leaders, investors and policy makers to translate research into growing innovative, competitive companies and industries. Through a combination of practical advice, real-life examples and big-picture vision, this thought-provoking work shows how Australia's world-class science can navigate successfully across the 'Valley of Death' to become successful innovations and grow our economy. Includes contributions from leaders in business, research, venture and scientists who have made the leap to become 'Scientist CEOs'.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
Game of knowns : science is coming ... (Book)
By Karl Kruszelnicki, 2021
Dr Karl divulges why psychopaths make good kings, how smartphones dumb down our conversations, why the left side of your face is the most attractive, how the female worker bee gets a raw deal and why we drink beer faster when it is served in a curved glass.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
Vital science (Book)
By Karl Kruszelnicki, 2018
Get your pulse racing with Australia's most popular scientist, Dr Karl Kruszelnicki. Discover why people tell lies, why some planets are hotter than stars and how humans are terraforming the Earth. Is cockroach milk really the next Superfood? Why are birds so smart? Etc. Finally, monitor your breathing and learn why whales are so big, why oral histories are surprisingly accurate and try the five tried-and-tested steps to becoming a wellness guru.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
Man-made : how the bias of the past is being built into the future (Book)
By Tracey Spicer, 2023
Walkley Award-winning journalist Tracey Spicer exposes the next frontier of feminism. Man-Made aims to open readers' eyes to a transformative technological shift in society and give them the tools to make positive change. Man-Made’s premise is that societal biases are being embedded into technology, with a particular focus on artificial intelligence. This often happens as a result of the systems learning from biased training data, which reflects and amplifies current and historical inequalities.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
A manual for writers of research papers, theses, and dissertations : Chicago Style for students and researchers (Book)
By Kate L. Turabian, 2019
This new edition of the classic reference work on writing research papers recognises recent developments in information literacy--including finding, evaluating, and citing a wide range of digital sources--and the evolving use of software for citation management, graphics, and paper format and submission while continuing to reflect best practices for research and writing.
Contact the library to request a loan of the book.
UNSW Research About Impact Of Repeated Smoke Exposure On Eyes
The University of NSW is inviting RFS members to participate in a research survey to investigate whether repeated bushfire smoke exposure increases the risk of problems at the eye surface.
The researchers are seeking two groups to participate in this research study. These are:
-bushfire firefighters, and
The researchers are seeking two groups to participate in this research study. These are:
-bushfire firefighters, and
-staff who are employed with bushfire emergency services organisations but do not have any firefighting experience.
Further information, including the research inclusion and exclusion criteria and links to the online consent forms,
can be found opening this document link.
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