Episode 10: Professor Jason Sharples, University NSW

Yeah, it's interesting because I know we've been trying to catch up for a little while and there's just so much going on around the world at the moment.

And I know that you've been under intense pressure lately because of the devastating fires around the world because I know your work crosses many continents.

When these events happen, everyone wants advice.

Everyone wants a chunk of you and everyone that's involved in this area.

The media calls, the agencies call, and your work is suddenly in a very high demand.

But when the fire's settled, that attention then tends to fade away.

How do you make sense of that cycle where your expertise is urgently needed one moment and almost forgotten the next, especially when you are trying to help people learn and improve things for the future?

Yeah, I mean, I guess it's nature of the beast, really.

You know, people get interested in things as they're happening and then can very quickly forget about them after they stop happening.

So I think for us, it's just to try and make ourselves available, you know, to the media and to agencies and the communities when we can and when that needs there.

You know, people are willing, you know, really keen to listen when these sorts of events going on.

So you make the most of that trying to get the message out.

But I guess during other times, it's still really just about still trying to engage with the community.

I mean, we do a lot of work through our group, just trying to communicate our research to the general community.

letting people know that if you've got a five bearing down on you and you're not prepared, it's too late to prepare.

So try to get the message out there that this is a real thing.

It will happen again and then one day it's likely to happen to you so you need to be ready.

So yeah, it's an interesting pattern but I guess it's part of human nature and all we can do as scientists is try and So accommodate that as best we can, but continue to try and push the message as best we can as well.

It's interesting.

I mean, I don't know how – I mean, I know what it's like being on the fire front and when these catastrophic events occur, but it's sort of the weight of the person that's responsible or the person that has to say this could be a catastrophic event because I know we've got the new danger rating system now that takes in catastrophic events.

They're really heavy words and I'm just sort of – and I know what they mean to me as a firefighter, someone that's been on the fire front.

I'm just sort of trying to work out it's still the same, that weight that you have letting us know.

You still have those same emotions and those same – feelings because you know what's going to happen and then you tell us, we have to get ready.

And it's that cross-pollination that I've always really enjoyed with getting to know you over the years.

Yeah.