SYP Network

The EIANZ SEQ Students and Young Professionals (or SYP) Network is an informal group set up to help share information between environmental students and young professionals in South East Queensland.

The Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ) services a number of chapters/divisions in Australia and New Zealand. The area of South East Queensland (SEQ) is covered by the EIANZ SEQ division, which is run through an Executive Committee.

The Executive is responsible for the overall implementation, monitoring and review of the Division’s Goals. The current EIANZ SEQ division vision is to:

The Executive Committee is comprised of subcommittees, one of which is the Students and Young Professionals subcommittee. The specific role of the SYP subcommittee is to:

“Provide students and young professionals within the environmental profession with opportunities to further develop professionally”.

The SYP Subcommittee is a small group of dedicated environmental SYPs who assist with operationalising the goals and vision of the division in relation to students and young professionals.

The EIANZ SEQ Division held their Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday 30th August 2006. A new (or not so new) Executive was voted in, two EIANZ Fellows announced and the winner of our Student Competition rewarded.

The AGM provides an opportunity for the previous year’s executive to be thanked, announcements to be made and the new executive for the next year to be voted in. The 2006 AGM saw two of our SEQ Division executive members (Alan Chenoweth and Adam Beck) announced as Fellows of the EIANZ—this is a very big achievement and recognises these people as serving in the institute for a very long time! The new Committee Chairs were also voted in and we’re please to announce that Emma Thomson and Fiona Berry were selected as SYP Committee Co-Chairs for the 2006-07 EIANZ calendar year.

The South East Queensland Division of the EIANZ is led by an Executive which consists of a President, Councillor, Senior and Junior Vice Presidents who are supported by a Secretariat and Treasurer. The Executive also contains five Committees, each lead by a Committee Chair. The Committees include Students and Young Professionals (the best!), Policy and Practice, Professional Development, Professional Standards and Membership. There is also currently a Special Interest Sector focussing on Environmental Impact Assessment. The below diagram shows how it all fits together:

The SYP network started up in spring 2004 and has come a long way. Throughout the last two years, there has been a strong commitment to the vision of providing social and professional development opportunities for environmental SYPs in SEQ. To date, this has been successfully achieved through an active Committee of volunteers who have delivered a variety of SYP-specific events and monthly newsletters.

Following the 2006 AGM in August, the SYP Committee discussed their role and have developed a business plan for the SYP Network 2006-07 EIANZ year.

The main objective of the plan is to build a SYP business model which is centrally controlled, simple and low maintenance that can be easily implemented from year to year. The model allows for current and future Chair(s) to continue leading the Committee in delivering successful and appropriate SYP member services into the future.

The Committee agreed that over the 2006/07 year we will deliver these services for our members:

If you have any comments or would like to be involved in our SYP Committee and the direction of our member services please feel free to contact one of our team (seq-syp@eianz.org) and we’d be happy to hear from you.

We look forward to another year of exciting SYP functions, services and involvement – see you at the next SYP event!

An environmental STUDENT is any person who is a student, irrespective of age and studying or interested in environmental matters.

An environmental YOUNG PROFESSIONAL is any person, working in any aspect of the environment industry, who:

In order to take advantage of the benefits offered by the SYP Network you need to register. It is FREE for all people meeting the criteria of a Student or Young Professional. To download the registration form –

Alternatively, if you are looking for ways to get more involved with your professional association, the EIANZ SYP Network is always looking for helping hands to coordinate events, share ideas and assist with our various professional development activities. This is also a great opportunity to meet other key players in the Institute and gain valuable experience and knowledge about the environment industry.

· Invitation to fun and informative events specifically designed for SYPs (eg: career events, casual social networking events)

· Meet and network with other SYPs studying or working in the environment industry

· Opportunities to contribute to dialogue and share information about environmental issues such as policy, practice and professional certification

No. The network is designed to provide access to networking, events and opportunities for all environmental students and young professionals, regardless of your EIANZ membership status.

However, the SYP Network offers additional benefits to those SYPs who are EIANZ members, these include:

· The Mentoring Program where you can build a relationship and receive advice from an environmental professional to enhance your career prospects and knowledge of the environment industry

· A chance to contribute to the direction of the Institute by having your voice heard at EIANZ executive meetings

Remember, the EIANZ is YOUR professional industry association! Becoming a member of EIANZ allows individuals in the environment industry to demonstrate professionalism, accountability, competence and ethical environmental practices through abiding with the Institutes own Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct. For more information about becoming an EIANZ member go to: www.eianz.org

The SYP Network would like to thank all of those who entered the Roving Eco Reporter Competition.
Judging was very difficult due to the high standard of entries.

The winner for this competition was Thami Croeser, a third year bachelor of Environmental Management student at UQ.

The EIANZ SYP Network invites environmental professionals, young and old and everywhere in between to a 'get to know the industry' event.

Come along for a delicious breakfast, meet other SYPs and be inspired by a successful environmental practitioner in the SEQ environment industry.

Cuong is a member of The Griffith School of Environment, the Centre for Innovative Conservation Strategies at Griffith University and the Project Coordinator of the Southeast Queensland Fire & Biodiversity Consortium, a unique collaboration of land management agencies in SEQ. He works on a number of areas to increase our understanding of the role of fire in a sub-tropical landscape, working on fire ecology, fire management, education/awareness, purposeful monitoring and evidence-based conservation outcomes with respect to the use of fire as a management tool. He has worked in a number of roles, as a fire behaviour researcher for the Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service, through to doctoral studies on plant flammability and evolution. Cuong lectures in the disciplines of botany and wildlife management at Griffith University.

The EIANZ-SEQ Student and Young Professionals (SYP) network invited environmental professionals, young and old and everywhere in between to a "get to know the industry" event. SYP's came along and were inspired by a successful environmental practitioner in the SEQ environment industry.

The speaker at this event was Cathy Crawley. Cathy is a Principal at Arup, a global design and business consulting firm. She is the Manager of Arup's Sustainability Business Unit in Australia. In her position as one of the youngest managers in Arup with extensive experience, Cathy has been involved in projects that have required the implementation of best practice in relation to sustainability in policy development, building and infrastructure design and environmental management. Cathy shared with environmental SYP's the challenges of her career, perspectives on professional development and tips for success.

The EIANZ SYP eco-film evening on the 3^rd August held at the University of Queensland was a resounding success with over 40 students and professionals attending. The evening began with talks given by John Meerabux, from the Queensland University of Technology, and Paul Coleman, from Queensland Rail, on the use of biodiesel in passenger trains (pictured above from left John Meerabux, Paul Coleman and SYP subcommittee member Evan Smith).

John Meerabux spoke about the research he is carrying out in conjunction with Queensland Rail into the use of a 20% biodiesel/80% diesel mix in passenger trains. Use of the biodiesel decreases CO₂ emissions and provides the opportunity for recycling waste oil from the fast food industry. Paul Coleman spoke about the Trans Adelaide passenger train biodiesel project with which he was involved and concluded that there was a number of problems to work through before biodiesel could be used on a widespread basis. A phased introduction of biodiesel in a controlled environment was recommended.

The film that followed was a documentary that followed Woody Harrelson and his friends on their biodiesel fuelled bus trip through America promoting sustainability. The film was insightful and funny and encouraged individuals to look at how they can live their everyday lives in a more sustainable way. The evening was rounded off nicely with a delicious pizza from the University of Queensland Pizza Café.

After a long week as a young professional in the Environment Industry, or as a hard toiling student hoping to move into the industry, the opportunity to relax and mingle on a Friday night is always welcome. The chance to do it at an SYP event, with like minded people, ensures it will be a good night and great way to ease into the weekend.

As always, the SYP committee had done a great job in organising their networking event. They had ruthlessly exploited everybody's urge to wear blue and red patent leather shoes on a Friday night, and had booked some lanes at Strike Bowling in the Wintergarden. The venue is very modern and disco; a far cry from the two lane bowling alley in Murwillumbah that hosted my 12^th birthday party.

The late start time and the introductory games of pool meant that by the time the competition started, most people were seeing 20 pins at the end of the alley. This didn't seem to stop a cavalcade of strikes and flamboyant post strike celebrations. The games were much contested and well enjoyed; though the results are long forgotten. The chance to network tempered with some healthy competition is a winning combination and the SYP committee deserve a heartfelt thank you for all their hard work in organising the event.

Environmental Speednetworking - 7 April 2006

By Frances Bigge – EIANZ SYP Network Member

For those of you who attended the SYP Network Environmental Speed Networking function on the 7^th April 2006, I am sure you will agree that it was a really fun night.

This was the first SYP Network event I have attended and I was not quite sure what to expect when I walked into Barsoma where the Environmental Speed Networking function was being held. Nor was I sure what to expect going to a function that resembled “speed dating”! But I soon realised that the concept of Environmental speed networking was a great way to quickly meet a large number of people studying and working in the environmental field.

After receiving a “welcome” cocktail, everyone was grouped according to whether they were students/young professionals or professional members. The professional members had the job of playing ‘musical chairs” and moving to a new group of student/young professions every few minutes to meet and chat with them. This was a great way to put a face to a name, make new contacts, experience the diverse range of environmental professions available in the environmental field or to just have a general chat.

After speaking to a number of people, it seems that this function was no different to other SYP Network social functions, where the alcohol was abundant and the atmosphere and networking was fun.

A huge thankyou to everyone involved in the organisation of the event, it was a great night.

To view pictures from the night visit our photo website at: http://au.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/eianz_syp/my_photos

Ecofilm Night : End of Suburbia - 15 December 2005

By Amelia Loye

On Thursday the 15th December the EIANZ Young Professional hosted a screening of the "End of Surburbia". The event reached capacity and packed out the makeshift theatre, the popcorn was a hit, and requests were made for more M&M's.

The documentary opened with a comical look at the settlement of America (and most other Western civilisations) into the suburbia we all know and love. It demonstrated the evolution and thus dependence of this way of life on the accessibility of the automobile. This is where the movie progressed into a poignant look at the sustainability of our current way of life, and in turn international economies and the current dependence on the availability of oil.

It was a well articulated reality check, something we are rarely exposed to in mainstream media. Despite being a sobering look at the future we got great feedback from everyone who attended and many stayed to ponder the challenges ahead over beer and pizza.

Thanks to everyone who supported our event and provided feedback. Stay tuned for more inspirational Ecofilm evenings coming in 2006. If you would like your own copy (discounts for several orders) or host your own screening of the film, please contact Fiona on fiona.berry@arup.com.au or see the website at www.endofsuburbia.com

To download the flyer

Energy Efficient Building Tour - 25 November 2005

By Fiona Berry

On Friday November 25th, the EIANZ SYP network hosted a building tour of the energy efficient William Buck Centre (on Edward St), guided by FKP’s Bob Warwick. The tour was held on day one of the Futureshock conference, a three day conference exploring sustainability topics specific to young professionals in the built environment.

Conference participants were given a description of the building’s evolution from design through to operation and Bob provided raw insight into the realities of developing a sustainable commercial building in today’s market. The sustainability challenges faced by FKP were deconstructed over the conference table from the different disciplines, generations and experiences of each participant.

The EIANZ SYP Network would like to extend a big thankyou to Bob for contributing his Friday afternoon for the tour and many thanks to those who came along. For more info on Futureshock or the William Buck Centre go to www.2050.org.au or www.williambuckcentre.com

From Green to the Gutter – Eco Bowlarama! - Friday 5 August 2005

A fantastic social evening was held at Milton Bowl.

To see some photos of the night go to:

http://au.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/eianz_syp/my_photos(use the slideshow link for a nice effect!)

by SYP Network member Cindy Trevor

I know networking is an important pursuit but often it feels formal and fake. One of the best things about SYP functions is that they're fun, friendly, informal and great way to meet a diversity of people work in the environmental field. This is exactly what the recent ecobowls event was. I doubt that many of us will ever become world champion bowlers, but judging from the happy chatter and smiling faces everyone (myself included) had a great time. Many thanks to the organisers of the event for coordinating a terrific night and facilitating some inconspicuous networking!!

To download the flyer –

Do you know what the Roma Street Parklands site looked like in “pre-European settlement” period? On a semi-wet Friday afternoon in April 2005, the South East Queensland EIANZ Student and Young Professionals Network (SEQ EIANZ SYP) held their first of many “Get to know…” events. This event was haply named “Get to know Roma Street Parklands”.

A small gathering of students and professionals briefly sat down to an entertaining presentation by Lawrie Smith, who was partly responsible for the design and landscaping of the Roma Street Parklands. Participants learnt that there existed a wetland at the lower sections of the site and an escarpment where Indigenous communities surveyed their landscape. These landscape features and other European history has been incorporated in the design of the site today.

Our group then took a leisurely walk around the Parklands to discover its numerous mystical features including misty fern valley, thousands of national and international plant species, the self-flushing wetland, rotating decorative gardens, and the man-made fault line. While walking around the Parklands with our esteemed tour guide, we began to truly grasp the effort and passion that the project managers, and the team had (and still hold) to transform the disused rail yard on the inner suburbs of Brisbane’s CBD into the world’s largest sub tropical urban garden.

On behalf of the group, the SEQ EIANZ SYP team would like to thank Lawrie Smith for sharing his broad knowledge, zeal and enthusiasm for the Roma Street Parklands. This writer certainly looks forward to enjoying the fruits of the labour and relaxing in “Grandfather’s (aka Mr Smith’s) Garden”.