Rob Gell Travels from VIC
Fee Range: .Up to $5000
Rob Gell's Biography
Rob is an
international authority on environmental issues and business and systems management;
with over thirty years’ experience working with, and talking to, communities
and business in order to improve our environmental impact.
Rob offers
companies, organisations and community groups the opportunity to learn, listen
and have fun. His wide repertoire of knowledge about environmental topics, the
media, technology and sustainable business frameworks can deliver key insights
and stimulate new paths of understanding.
Rob is a
Director of World Wind Pty Ltd and director of his own companies Breakthrough
Productions Pty Ltd and Gellignite Pty Ltd. He is also a director of a new
mobile media and communications company bhive Group Pty Ltd and co-founder
of ICES (International College of Environmental Sustainability).
Rob Gell is
a geographer and specifically a coastal geomorphologist, specialising in the
environmental processes that continually shape our coastlines. As such, he has
an expert understanding of the Victorian coastline and its formation. Rob
completed his Science Degree at Melbourne University in the early seventies. In
his professional life today Rob works as an environmental and communications
consultant.
Rob taught
Environmental Science and Physical Geography at Melbourne State College and
Melbourne University. Rob is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society
and an Inaugural Fellow of the Environment Institute of Australia and New
Zealand. He is a member of the Victorian Coastal Council, Chairman of Wildlife
Victoria, Chairman of the UNESCO Western Port Biosphere Mornington
Peninsula and Westernport Biosphere Reserve Foundation, and a member of the
Reference Group for the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability,
Victoria. Rob also serves on the boards of WPC Group Ltd.
He is Patron of the Geography Teachers Association of Victoria, Life
Education Victoria, Sustainability Street, and a supporter of Cool Melbourne.
He is a Life Ambassador for Australia Day for the State of Victoria and was
Environmental Ambassador to the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth Games.
In 1979 Rob
Gell’s Four Day Forecast revolutionised the way television weather information
was presented. For thirty-one years he brought innovation, information,
credibility, and authority to television news introducing satellite image
sequences, integrated pressure analyses and explanation and accountability
rather than simply a presentation of Weather Bureau forecasts by a personality.
He presented on Eyewitness News from 1979, then National Nine News
for sixteen years from 1988 and then with the Seven Network until 2009.
He is a
published author and photographer. He has been a local government councillor
and was a councillor of the Australian Conservation Foundation for almost a
decade. Rob became a director of Greening Australia Victoria in 1997, was
President from 2000 until 2008 and concluded three years as national President
in 2011.
Rob Gell is
a uniquely qualified individual who has the respect of government, business,
environmental groups and the community for his approach to sustainable
development. Importantly he is also an excellent communicator who can get the
message across.
Speaking Topics Include
Welcome To the New World
Changing weather patterns, bigger droughts, fires and flood, issues around water availability, concern over the price of oil, human impacts on the natural world and concerns about the planet's capacity to support us are the conversations of the ‘New World'. This visually graphic presentation will challenge our conventional thinking and investigate the new opportunities we will need to both understand and operate to in coming years. The concept of sustainability is now part of everyday dialogue, but what does a sustainable future really mean? How far beyond "business as usual" will we need to move in order to leave a planetary inheritance we would be truly proud of?
Business As Usual Or Sustainable Business
Examines the three key sustainability issues facing us today; resource consumption, biodiversity loss and climate shift. Ecological footprint analysis shows that we are now living off nature's capital not nature's interest and that the unsustainable use of resources, continuing loss of biological diversity coupled with rapid climate change is putting economy-supporting ecosystems at risk. What are our options for future sustainable development?
Climate Shift - The Science, Current Impacts and Options For The Future
Is our climate really changing? Where's the evidence - how do we know? Aren't there two sides to this story - who's saying what? Will there be impacts on business - are there opportunities too? What are our options and how quickly should we respond? The Stern Report, Garnaut, CPRS and other targets for emissions reductions.
Natural Capital, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
These three concepts fundamentally underpin our economy and all are at risk. The State of the Environment Report suggests that there's a lot to be done. Vegetation management and landscape reconstruction programs must be developed at scale if we are to maintain our biological diversity in the face of climate change. Can we protect our environment and continue to enjoy our high quality of life?
Water, Energy & Waste: The Keys to Sustainable Development
The current drought has driven a new focus on water conservation in the home and in business. Should water be our focus? Is there enough? What are our prospects for supporting our growing population? What are our technological options in recycling and reuse? How is water linked to energy and waste? Where are the opportunities to develop smarter systems for water management.
Other recent speech titles:
Designing Towards Zero Carbon Environments (Arup Client Forum, London, November, 2006)
An examination of the built environment and the opportunities that exist in building construction and city planning to manage climate change. Tackles the question "is carbon neutral enough?"
Weather Report: 2050 (originally for the International Landcare Conference, Melbourne, October 2006 but updated for many other presentations.) A backcasting exercise which takes us to the year 2049, looks back at the first decades of this century and changes that occurred in our weather and climate and finally provides a forecast for the first months of 2050.
Sustainable 2050 (Keynote to Municipal Association Showcase Forum, Bendigo, August 2006)
Australia's Coast: 2050 ("Coast to Coast" -National Coastal Conference, Melbourne, May 2006)
Science, Communications and the Media (Annual Crosbie Morrison Lecture to Museum of Victoria 2005) Examines the role of the media in presenting the key issues facing the global community: sport, politics, economics and growth or science, technology, health and climate change.
Environmental Management for Schools - Australian School Bursars Association Annual Conference, Melbourne Exhibition and Convention Centre, October 2005
Water Sustainability for Industry - Plastics and Chemical Industry Association Annual Conference, Sydney, June 2005
Weather, Natural Disasters and Greenhouse Theory
Water: Issues and Opportunities
Sustainable Futures