Welcome to 3Keel! How has your day been so far?

It’s been a lovely start to the new week so far. I’ve been coworking with a colleague all morning and will switch locations to their place in the afternoon. I had an exciting meeting with my project manager and a translating company in the morning to discuss the translating / interpreting we need done for the Data Services this year. I’m excited to go climbing with colleagues tomorrow and am looking forward to cycling to work with 3Wheel in the morning, too.

What have you started working on?

I am working on the Data Services, specifically from the soy side. I have really enjoyed working on the Palm Oil Transparency Coalition over the last few weeks, researching suppliers’ progress in all things sustainable and writing summaries about them for our annually published scorecards. I’ve found it particularly interesting to learn how to critically engage with supplier websites and understand the true commitments and actions they have taken rather than just promoting themselves as a “green company”.

What are you looking forward to most about working for 3Keel?

It’s such a pleasure to work in such a motivated environment for such a well-regarded sustainability consultancy and engage with high-level clients to create true impact. I am also really looking forward to getting to know the team better and building a relationship with assigned clients to accompany them throughout the data services process this year.

Who or what inspired you to work in sustainability?

As an average GenZer, I grew up with the awareness that the climate crisis was coming and feel like working in sustainability is the most impactful way I can contribute to the world’s response to it. I think the first person who taught me about sustainability and supply chains was a Geography and English teacher of mine in high school who taught us about energy waste and sustainability labels such as Fair Trade. To this day, I see them as my first inspiration to take action on climate change. My awareness of the climate crisis was only exacerbated by the coral bleaching in my home state Queensland, Australia, where the Great Barrier Reef has been heavily impacted not only by rising temperatures and acidification, but also by hurricanes that have destroyed many coastal areas.

When you’re not working, what do you like to do?

I have gotten increasingly into climbing these last few months, especially because a lot of my friends are into it and because it is such a social sport. I also love a good post- or pre-work run to let out all my extra energy. I can always be tempted to a weekend escape to go hiking or camping somewhere and also love a relaxing movie night with my flatmates and friends.

For those wanting to learn more about sustainability, what key resource (tv, film, book, podcast, etc.) can you recommend?

Having researched it for my Master’s dissertation, I really love holistic approaches to sustainability as done through Caring for Country projects in Australia as they combine social issues of Indigenous marginalisation with conservation. Any of the planet earth documentaries (yay for David Attenborough) and all the vegan documentaries are also a great place for inspiration. I also love listening to the occasional podcast about mutual aid responses to the climate crisis, it gives me lots of hope for the future, as does surrounding myself with people involved with climate in a myriad of ways – whether with climate scientists, psychologists and activists – there is so much to learn from all of them!