Griffith University

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Just when I thought my escape from the beach existed between the hours 10pm – 1am while I indulge in my second passion – architecture – the beach bites back. So, what do I do when I am not thinking about beaches? I watch Grand Designs on You Tube and skip those ads… until … holy crap … it’s me… on a You Tube Ad?

Coastal management, dunes, coastal community engagement, Gold Coast’s beaches, study, commitment, volunteer and wait for it, Friends of Federation Walk gets a plug too.

While I definitely need more training in front of the camera (geez I twitch) it is awesome to see my story about where studying at Griffith University can take you. If you have been following me for sometime you would know that I really started to move and shake the coastal management world when I started volunteering back in my environmental science student days, and more specifically with Friends of Federation Walk.

Today, I am living the dream where I work, play and live at the beach. Travel to different beaches. Share my knowledge about beaches and write about the beach.

From an environmental science degree to a masters of international and community development and now doing an honours in cultural studies (beach happiness), trust me when I say that studying at Griffith University has definitely inspired me to be a better person and that person is making difference along Gold Coast’s beaches.

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A line in the sand

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Source - Oxford Dictionary

Source – Oxford Dictionary

I feel out of character due to the number of decisions I have been making lately. At the same time sense two worlds colliding, marinating magnificent research I hope.

My journey into the world of humanities has begun and it is rocking my science ship that’s for sure. Curiosity is becoming an understatement as I am finding myself questioning every thought, idea and moral. Is this for science or is this for humanity? Which angle could create a better outcome for the planet and its people? – are just some of the questions racing through my mind.

And now all of sudden I am seeing lines in the sand – everywhere.

I was discussing my research with my amazing supervisor Kerrie Foxwell last week and showing her my progress by drawing models of my thoughts and possibilities. She stopped me.

“No pie graphs, no models, no numbers”, she said.

“What? Really? But what about…”, I replied.

That’s because there are no lines in humanities and my thoughts, ideas and morals are certainly not constrained by boundaries. I think I have found home.

The thing is all these lines I am now seeing are the limitations to coastal management. You see, coastal management was designed by drawing lines in the sand, as once decisions are made they are almost irreversible. These lines form a framework designed by the environmental sciences and market values – which actually halt any potential or creativity to integrate real culture and social systems (i.e. where there is culture or social activity it is usually driven by the environmental sciences and market values) …

This is why I have drawn a line in the said – to research the coast from the other side, where humanities is real, noticed and celebrated.

Give me a year to flesh this out more and a decade (if we can wait) for social and cultural indicators to be the drivers of coastal management.

Honours here we come.