Blogs

The Australian Society of Archivists (ASA) ran another Professional Development (PD) day this year in Western Australia, and it’s the tenth ASA PD day or conference that we’ve attended to support the archival community - something we really enjoy being a part of.

A few weeks ago I got the opportunity to briefly speak at the Environmental Institute of Australia and New Zealand’s (EIANZ) Environmental Impact Symposium for 2025.  The EIANZ put on an excellent event in Sydney, and a great recap of both

Coming to the tailend of August means a few big things in Brisbane - RiverFire is normally only a few weeks ago, the flu season is winding down after everyone got sick at the EKKA and Something Tech is back in town.

It’s National Science Week here in Australia at the moment and as part of that we thought we’d talk to a few of our team who focus on science - our two Consulting Scientists, Mieke and Gill, and our founder, Piers - about what science has given them over their careers and what it means to them.  Their responses - and photos!

In recent weeks we’ve all seen the news regarding South Australia’s (SA) disastrous Karenia mikimotoi algal bloom (link, 

When I first visited Perth 17 years ago I had no idea that I’d be sewing the seeds of an intercontinental move and finding a company that has the same whacky ideals that I have. I was working at the Natural History Museum in London at the time and we were just starting to grow our family (2 adults, 1 child).

Here in our headquarters in Perth (which is located on Noongar country) we’re coming to the end of the Makuru season and are about to start the Djilba season - where we see a massive explosion of yellow around Perth as the acacias and other yellow flowering plants start to bloom.  Which feels just about right for where we are at Gaia Resources, as we enter our 22nd year of operation.

In Western Australia the Polyphagus shot-hole borer (PSHB, Euwallacea fornicatus) has been a major biosecurity problem since it was detected in Perth in 2021.  This week, the State government announced that it was no longer deemed possible to eradicate this pest, and instead a management approach to try to slow the spread of the pest is in play.

In Australia, where Gaia Resources was “born” and operates, turning 21 is definitely a milestone!  While the formal “age of majority” in Australia has been 18 since the 1970s (each State or Territory had an Age of Majority Act passed across the 1970s that lowered the age from 21 to 18).  So while we’ve been able to call Gaia Resources an adult for the last three years, it does feel like this year is really our coming of age.

Ever wonder what happens behind the digital scenes of the archival institutions that preserve our history and knowledge for the future? Well, this blog is a follow on from our last one about Archives where we talked about the digital infrastructure behind archives, and in this one we cover the software that sits behind these important institutions.