Four 2018 ESF Scholarship recipients have been announced.
Geoff Ranzenhofer, CFA Senior Station Officer – to study practical fire investigation training at international best practice sites.
Jacob Riley, SES Public Information and Warnings Advisor – to study the use of new and emerging technologies to improve real time community warnings.
Linda Jones, VicPol Forensic Officer and Acting Unit Leader Document Examination – to study advances in forensic documentation in the USA and Canada.
Luke Heagerty, Manager CFA Incident Management Systems – to study how incident management takes place in collaboration with the private sector in the UK and USA.
Geoff has two outcomes he wants to achieve from his scholarship. ‘Firstly I want to learn from respected agencies so that we can match it with the best and be confident lour fire investigators are receiving a world’s best practice training experience. Secondly I want to improve community safety through product recalls informed by the great work of our fire Investigators.’
Likewise Luke said, ‘This opportunity will enable me to better understand how the private sector can become a partner that we not only collaborate with but learn from. It is an advance in emergency management we must embrace.’
Forensic document investigation is a niche area of expertise and for Linda this ESF scholarship opportunity will enable her to meet international experts in the science of forensic investigation to explore and develop ideas which can be applied to benefit the Victorian emergency services sector.
Jacob believes we have come such a long way in terms of developing our warning systems but this scholarship is an opportunity to explore new and emerging technologies so that Victoria can anticipate and plan for the future in relation to real time community warnings.
The four scholarship recipients have committed to share the knowledge gained through a report to ESF and their Head of Agency with recommendations for the sector and by speaking at ESF events in 2019.
You will be able to follow Geoff, Luke, Linda and Jacob’s study tours on social media.
The scholarship scheme has, over a number of years, provided 140 scholarships to career staff and volunteers. The aim of the scholarship scheme is to enable members of the Victorian Emergency Services to undertake advanced studies to improve an aspect of emergency response and management in Victoria as well as enrich their personal development.
More information about the 2019 scholarship scheme will be available on this site in August 2018.
