Darren Ray, University of Adelaide, has offered to host a hackathon before the AQUA conference on Monday 5^th Dec focussed on palaeo-science data analysis.  It would be based on the emerging Python based palaeo analysis framework, in particular, through Jupyter Notebooks. It would be aimed at those who might have some coding experience in say R or Python, and introduce installing and setting up Python environments, basic data analysis in the framework such as importing, analysing, and visualising .csv based data, including producing maps, introduce GitHub repositories such as LinkedEarth, how netcdf and LiPD files work and how to access them, and introduce using Pyleoclim for analysis such as PCA, wavelets, and power spectrum analysis.

Darren is Principal Climate Change Analyst, Dept of Environment and Water South Australia and PhD candidate in Earth Sciences at the University of Adelaide.  To express early interest in the hackathon, contact Darren at: darren.ray@adelaide.edu.au

There may be a modest fee to cover costs for salaried and grant-funded participants, but please don’t let this be a barrier to participation.

Calling all Australian and New Zealand Quaternary scientists! We are launching our inaugural AQUA mentoring program!

AQUA (Australasian Quaternary Association) brings together researchers that study the Quaternary climate and landscape changes. The organisation aims to provide a forum for Quaternary researchers to collaborate and share findings with one another.

The goal of our inaugural mentoring program is to support our ECR and MCR researchers in their professional growth and development. Our members have a vast breadth of experience and expertise across a myriad of topics and there is a willingness to share that within the Quaternary community.

We encourage researchers at all stages of their career (student to senior academic) to consider participating in the mentoring program as a mentor and/or mentee.

To join the mentoring program you must be an AQUA member. You can join or renew your membership here. Please note that AQUA renewals run on the Financial Year, and participants should make sure your membership will be valid for the 2022/23 year. Please also note that there are discounted rates for student/concession membership, and for student participants in the mentoring program who are not already AQUA members, if you join now we will extend your membership to mid 2023.

The structure of the mentoring program is outlined here. Participants (both mentors and mentees) are required to read, sign, and return the Code of Conduct and to complete and the sign up questions. Documents should be returned by email to Micha Campbell by COB 29-04-2022.

The 2022 AQUA Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held online on Monday 11th April from 1-2 pm (AEST).

All AQUA members and non-members are invited to attend, however only current financial members are able to nominate for committee positions and vote. If you are not a current financial member you can renew your membership here. Please make every effort to attend. Please email communications@aqua.org.au for the zoom link. If you can’t attend you can still nominate for positions and vote (see below).

The current AQUA committee would like to encourage you to nominate yourself, or others, for committee positions. AQUA needs your help! In particular, there are no nominations for the position of Secretary or Treasurer from members of the current committee. Heather Haines, our current Treasurer has kindly offered to shadow the new Treasurer for 6 months to help them adjust to the role.

Committee members contribute to all of the executive’s decisions, not just those related to their roles, and there are openings for general members which might be suitable for those people wishing to “learn the ropes”.

Applicants for positions are encouraged to provide a short paragraph of why they seek nomination/what they would like to achieve in the role, although this is not a condition for nomination. Please send this paragraph (should you wish) to AQUA Secretary Alex F Wall (alexfwall@gmail.com) by 5 pm (AEST) Thurs 8th April.

Proxy votes

If you are unable to attend the AGM please provide a proxy vote and intentions to another member who is attending. Alex F Wall (Secretary) is happy to receive your proxies. Having these proxy votes is important to ensure that your views are represented and also to ensure that we have a quorum for the AGM.

AQUA Executive Committee positions

The AQUA Executive Committee meets for an hour every two months. Its decision-making processes have a tradition of being informal and consensus based. The official roles are described in AQUA’s Constitution but further details about the day to day roles are provided below.

PRESIDENT

The AQUA President is responsible for representing the organisation both internally and externally.  The President chairs Executive Committee meetings and the Annual General Meeting and is responsible for writing a small piece (“From the President’s Pen”) in each issue of Quaternary Australasia.

VICE PRESIDENT

The Vice President undertakes the President’s role in their absence and contributes to overall decision making by the Executive Committee.

SECRETARY

The Secretary is responsible for arranging Executive Committee meetings and the Annual General Minutes and taking and distributing minutes. They are also responsible for the keeping of all official documents excluding financial, including the register of members (the latter mostly done automatically via the website these days).

TREASURER

The Treasurer is responsible for AQUA’s financial activities, including those related to the AQUA Conference (in collaboration with the local organisers). In addition to the “day to day” activities, The Treasurer is responsible for reporting to Annual General Meeting on the organisation’s financial position. Some banking authority is also shared with other committee members.

NB: The treasurer must be an Australian Resident (for banking purposes)

COMMUNICATIONS AND IT COORDINATOR

The Communications and IT Coordinator is responsible for maintaining the Aqua website and social media accounts (primarily the @AusQuaternary Twitter account). This includes working with the editors of QA to upload the QA magazine and organisers of the biennial AQUA conference to facilitate conference registration and abstract submission.

SHADOW COMMUNICATIONS AND IT

The Shadow Communications and IT Coordinator provides support to the Coordinator with a variety of tasks. Shadow position occupants often go on to occupy the “full” position (although this is not necessarily the case).

GENERAL MEMBERS, in the following categories:

NZ, Australian, ECR representative, Inclusion and Equity

The ECR General Member position includes representing ECR AQUA members in committee meetings and is responsible for driving strategies to encourage inclusion and diversity, and support early career and junior researchers in the Quaternary community. General member positions are perfect for new or relatively new committee members to “learn the ropes”.

QUATERNARY AUSTRALASIA EDITOR/S

The Editor of Quaternary Australasia is responsible for soliciting and preparing contributions from AQUA members for biannual publication. This includes copyediting, writing editorials, coordinating peer review, and liaising with an external graphic designer.

QUATERNARY AUSTRALASIA SHADOW EDITOR/S

The Shadow Editor provides support to the Editor with tasks relating to the compilation and preparation of Quaternary Australasia for publication.

AGM agenda:

(1) to confirm the minutes of the previous annual general meeting and of any special general meeting held since then;

(2) to receive and consider—

(i) the annual report of the Committee on the activities of the Association during the preceding financial year; and

(ii) the financial statements of the Association for the preceding financial year submitted by the Committee;

(3) to elect the members of the Committee;

(4) to confirm or vary the amounts of the annual subscription fee.

(5) Any Other Business