Currently on his schedule is  a talk on sustainability to the West End 17 Group, being guest speaker at the Schools "Year of Environmental Sustainabilty" symposium in Mackay, and "Intervening" in the Griffith University sympsium on what should be taught at the Asia pacific Centre for Sustainable Enterprise, visiting Barcelona and Chicago to look at differeent models of "livable and sustainable" cities and attending the Bioneers Conference in San Francisco. 

 

Previously he has spoken at the Australia and New Zealand Botanic Gardens Conference in Mackay, Queensland, to the Renewable Energy Propulsion Lab group in Mackay, as part of the Climate Change @ Work business seminar in Brisbane and as the keynote speaker at the Northern Engineers Conference in Mackay. He also gave lectures and tours on sustainable housing to Griffith University graduate students and Permaculture Design students from Northey Street City Farm.

 

The expertise he brings to these talks includes his 12 years as a University lecturer, his background in archaeology and his archaeological experiences in the Middle East, Europe, New Zealand and Australia, his 25 years as a museum manager and curator, and his current involvement in community education about climate change and sustainability. He reckons his perspective as a grandparent, and his enthusiasm for bird watching (since he was a teenager) gives him a personal insight into environmental issues.       

 

He finds that illustrating history and the future with pictures of archaeological sites, landscapes and finds, historic buildings and sites, and museums and their exhibits, is a very effective form of communicating important messages. Sometimes it is easier to discuss the ecological mistakes of the Romans than current Emissions Trading schemes, but the issues are exactly the same!

 

He and his wife built two new “sustainable” homes in Brisbane in 2002 and 2007 respectively, and enjoy sharing their knowledge of this through public talks and guided tours of their latest house and its wildlife-friendly and food-producing garden.Their house was open to the public on Sustainable House Day in 2008 and over 250 people came through in 4 hours. Their “ecological” garden featured on the ABC Television’s “Gardening Australia” show in May 2010.