The Importance of Being Human: Recent Episodes
Tara Jacobsen
The Importance of Being Human Podcast explores what truly makes us human and how we will need to adapt and thrive in the coming decades.
In this podcast we will explore how, as the world changes, being human will become more relevant in the way we work and live.
Tara be will interviewing a range of guests from all walks of life who will give you a peek into their world and their thoughts on the changing world around us and how we need to adapt to thrive.
Christine Brennan is a Designer, Innovator, and Thought Provocateur working with businesses across Australia exploring market disruptions and designing new business models.
Christine strives to assimilate the “Human” in the development of new businesses, products and services. She is fascinated by the complexities of business, ever intrigued by the experiences we design and the innovations that can be driven from questioning these.
Christine relishes opportunities to disrupt traditional industry assumptions providing improved consumer experiences. With over 10 years experience in strategic thinking, design and innovation, Christine successfully challenges existing business models for a wide range of innovative business solutions.
Christine also holds 15 years project management experience in both operational and corporate contexts enabling business model innovations to be translated into actionable deliverables. Christine’s experience in non-traditional roles motivates her to support other women to achieve their personal and professional business goals.
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Associate Professor Michael Cowling (ICT, CQUniversity Australia) has been a leader in educational technology for over 20 years and was the 2020 recipient of the Universities Australia AAUT Award for Teaching Excellence (Physical Sciences).
He is an Advance Queensland Community Digital Champion, and an Australasian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education (ASCILITE) Community Fellow.
Tens of thousands of academics, teachers, and students have heard his mantra, 'pedagogy before technology', whilst learning directly and indirectly from him through his award-winning educator workshop series ‘Weaving Technology into the Fabric of the Classroom’, and his CSIRO-supported ‘Professor Tech’ K-12 student program.
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In this Episode we chat with Derek Nielsen. Derek is a nature photographer but is so much more. He has a fascinating view on the impact that humans have on the globe and the world around us. Derek comes from Chicago Illanois and is an award winning nature photographer.
Derek’s stunning photographs don’t just inspire, they connect—linking audiences and resources all over the world to wildlife, landscapes and people in desperate need of assistance, from Rwanda’s endangered silverback gorillas to the overfished waters of Antarctica.
Derek was first moved to contribute to global conservation efforts while photographing the ominous splendour of Iceland’s Jokulsarlon glacier lagoon, a haunting manifestation of climate change, Derek provides a portion of the proceeds from each of his sustainably framed and matted works to on-the-ground, local conservation efforts, including The Conservation Alliance and Borneo’s The Borneo Project.
After 20 years behind the lens, Derek Nielsen’s journey to capture, share—and ultimately, help preserve—the fragile beauty of our planet has taken him to more than two dozen countries and every continent.
Derek has also started his own podcast and youtube channel called “The Art of Actual Change” talking to people who are making a difference to the planet as leaders in their field in science, business and academia
Join us as we get to piggy back on the places Derek has explored and photographed and the changes he is seeing in the world including the impact we are having on the planet and sharing his views on how technology and globalisation is shifting how we live on this gorgeous planet.
If you want to know more about Derek check out the links below:
https://www.dereknielsen.com
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/dereknielsenphotography/
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/DerekNielsenPhotography
YouTube - The Art Of Actual Change - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBvZ7kg_nRj0GAI34hEE04Q
Podcast - The Art Of Actual Change - https://open.spotify.com/show/798plxmxPKVdVFnI5ERsVQ?si=rvI98YUkSRikjwNaFXYFcA
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In this episode we chat with Dr Sue Keay. Sue is the CEO of Queensland AI Hub following her role as Research Director for Cyber-Physical Systems at CSIRO’s Data61. She is responsible for bringing the Grace Hopper Celebration to Australia and led the development of Australia’s first Robotics roadmap, outlining how robotics and automation will impact on every sector of the Australian economy.
Sue was formerly the Chief Operating Officer for the Australian Centre for Robotic Vision and has an MBA from The University of Queensland Business School. She is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, chairs the Board of Robotics Australia Group and is an Adjunct Professor at QUT.
In this episode we hear Sue's thoughts and even concerns about the lack of diversity in the STEM industry not just from a gender perspective but how technology and the people designing it does not necessarily represent the society it will serve. She is passionate about advocating and supporting young girls and women into this industry.
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We return in this episode with one of our favourite guests from last season - Dr Patrick Scolyer-Gray a cyber-sociologist. Having spent 5 years engaged as an academic, Patrick has now moved into a new role of supporting businesses with their human-computer interactions as a consultant at the expert management agency 460degrees, where he holds the position of cyber security champion.
As always with Patrick we dive down a human centred cyber security rabbit hole, Patricks egg story will tell all and you can get the link from the show notes.
We also discuss how to protect your organisations information security during a global pandemic and the things we need to do to secure our corporate and organisational data when people are working from home. We also discuss the importance of cyber literacy for all Australians, data after death and a whole lot of other pretty cool insights into how we live and work with technology that you really probably don’t think about as you go about your day.
If you would like to learn more about Patrick's work or are looking to achieve an improved security posture for your business, check out the human centric cyber security capability page on 460degrees.comhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-patrick-scolyer-gray/
https://www.460degrees.com/the-egg-story-the-delicate-connection-between-you-and-your-security-technology/
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Dr Natalie Rens is a self confessed space nerd, neuroscientist, and AI enthusiast. She is the founder and CEO of Astreia, building intelligent habitats for Earth and Mars.
In this podcast, Natalie shares a window into her incredible mind and how she is taking on the wicked problems of the world.. including living and thriving on Mars.
Natalie has worked as the Artificial Intelligence Specialist for the Office of the Queensland Chief Entrepreneur, implementing strategies to advance AI capability in Queensland. She also built Queensland AI, an AI meetup with over 2,500 members.
Natalie holds a PhD in Neuroscience, Master in Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, and a Bachelor in Biomedical Science (honours).
Get in touch with Natalie here:
https://www.astreia.com/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-natalie-rens/
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In 2021 we are re-launching the Importance of Being Human with a new season. Our first guest is Julia Steel. Julia is known for many successes and has made a significant impact on people and organisations. But during the pandemic and more recently she is known for connecting 1000s of people across the globe at the height of the lockdown in March 2020 with her VID19 conference. Julia is a pro at dealing with uncertainty. After growing up in a military family and moving around the world as a kid, she built a reputation as a safe pair of hands leading organisations through change too. Having led some of the largest business and technology transformations in Australia and the UK, Julia knows that dealing with uncertainty – at work and in life – takes nerves of steel. Now a speaker, trainer and coach, she works with organisations, leaders and teams to shape their future. She is the author of e and and is the creator and host of the VID Conference. Buy-in: How to Lead Change, Build Commitment & Inspire PeoplUnite
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Jacqui helps families plan for their future in the event of an emergency or death, by getting their affairs in order, through her Family Legacy Plan at TBA Law. But she is also the founder of Legally Wise Women, which brings together women in an online community, who lack confidence with a legal issue to go from confronted to courageous ,so that they can have better control over the outcomes in a variety of situations and negotiate what they want successfully with less cost. Jacqui’s personal values brought into everything she does makes all the difference - a commitment to serving her community, very strong ethics and a sense of civil justice, and a dedication to having a safe work environment. Not only is jacqui an Accredited Specialist in Wills and Estates and has written and published three books: ‘In Case of Emergency’, a practical guide for young families in the case of injury or death, ‘Death and Social Media, a guide to your digital estate planning', and 'The Sandwich Generation’. On top of all that she produces a podcast IQ meets EQ
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Cameron feels most comfortable walking the banks of a river with his family in tow. His day to day is spent in the city working with student athletes from Sydney’s Newington College. Cameron has worked as a Strength and Conditioning Coach with Australian Rugby, Collegiate and Professional Football players, schoolboy prodigies, The GWS Giants and the NRL Referees. Through his experiences he has come to realise the importance of ones environment in shaping who they are/who they are not and what they’re ultimately willing to do. In this podcast Cameron's shares his insights in how to human potential from an early age and the lessons he has learnt about this along the way
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Dr Kirstin Ferguson is a powerhouse.She is a Kirstin a professional company director, keynote speaker and author. She sits on a number of ASX listed and private company boards and is also the Deputy Chair of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. She began her career as an Air Force Officer at ADFA before developing a diverse career including as an executive in a corporate law firm, becoming admitted as a solicitor and CEO of a global consulting firm. As well as Honours degrees in Law and also History, she also has a PhD in leadership and governance for which she has received industry and academic awards. Dr Ferguson was the creator of the Walkley nominated #CelebratingWomen campaign in 2017 and is also the author of the award-winning with co-author Catherine Fox. Join us on this podcast as we explore Kirstin's incredible mind and life experiences... as you will hea,r Kirstin loves connecting with people via social media so I encourage you to drop her a line and of course pick up of her fabulous book called women kind.Women Kind
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Not only is Lani a specialist in emerging technology but also holds a masters of psychotherapy and in the true meaning of duality balances his passion for both. Lani has amassed over 20 years experience with expertise in emerging technology adoption including IoT & A.I, risk/cybersecurity, startups and building and leading highly successful teams. He advises several startups in the area of technology , business and market strategy and serves as Chief Executive Officer of IoTSec Australia Inc, an industry advocacy and research initiative to promote secure practices in the IoT ecosystem. As a Partner at Deloitte Asia-Pacific he leads the Firm's Smart Cities initiative in Australia. Lani also has a deep interest in personal and applied leadership and holds a Masters, Psychotherapy with a focus on emotional intelligence as a catalyst for effective leadership and influencing organisational effectiveness. He is a practising Psychotherapist and helps people on issues such as depression, stress and anxiety in individuals, relationship stress in couples and organisational leadership and culture development in organisations. In this podcast he shares with us his experiences and views of the intersections between technology and humanism and how he is particularly concerned about how this is affecting the youth in our society.
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Joe is an all round good guy and has had a diverse and enriching career based on a variety of roles ranging from banking, to a trade in Horticulture to retail sales & marketing, to owning an ad agency and in the last 5 years, holding senior management roles in the Manufacturing sector. He believes that hard work beats talent but hard work alone won’t always win the day. Work ethic needs to be supplemented with education/training/mentorship to help you stay relevant and ahead of the game. He is currently CEO of Eco Growth International Pty Ltd, Australia’s leading manufacturer of biologically activated fertilisers. In this episode, we explore Joes views on humanism on work, life and family.
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From humble beginnings growing up in Blacktown, to competing on the world stage across four Olympic Games, Dan Collins’ ongoing pursuit for excellence is nothing short of convincing. Since retiring from his Olympic quest for Gold in the sport of Kayaking, taking home both Silver and Bronze medals along with numerous World Championships, Dan has focused his energy on managing transformational, organisational change, driving accountability and performance in the corporate world. Recognising every culture is the result of the sum of the individuals involved, irrespective of title, position or hierarchy, Dan works with organisations in creating a culture of accountability and winners at all levels. In this podcast, we go on a journey of Dans adventures playing football and then for over a decade as an Olympic kayaker and more importantly we get to dive into the world of what it takes from a mindset and resilience perspective to navigate that world.
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Episode 5 is the humble and un-shakable Sheryll Fisher. Sheryl is the Managing Director of an organisation called Outback initiatives which provides experiential leadership development programs in the outdoors for large periods of time. For a living Sheryll gets to put people out of their comfort zones just enough for them to learn more about themselves under pressure. She discusses how sometimes there is some real lord of the flies moments. In this episode, Sheryl shares her fabulous wisdom from years of watching and learning about how we as humans function.
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Tony describes himself as a chartered accountant turned social entrepreneur turned human potential coach. Tony currently works for an organisation by the name of Bendelta where he supports some of the leaders of our top 200 companies to implement leadership solutions that drive business outcomes. Tony is an unyielding optimist and has so much hope for human kind and has some wonderful enriching stories to share
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Amy is a well travelled, purveyor of adventure. She has seen all aspects of humanity living and working across 5 countries (starting in the US) and then settling in Australia. In this podcast she shares that whilst different we are essentially all the same and encourages us to expand our horizons and experience and be curious of the world around us. Officially Amy is a Projects and Communications Officer at University of the Sunshine Coast and in this episode she shares how she is in the process of revising and re-inventing herself as she commences a new decade.
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In this episode, we talk with Dr Patrick Scolyer-Gray. Patrick is a cyber-sociologist, he studies the intersection between social and behavioural science and the way we use and consume media and other technologies. At present, Patrick is working as a research fellow at Deakin University’s Centre for Cyber Security Research and Innovation (CSRI), and is currently focused on a series of research projects concerning protective security, as well as cyber and information warfare. This interview was recorded during the COVID-19 isolation and Patrick provides a rare insight into how as humans we will navigate the complexity of being in isolation and coming out of it to re-imagine the way we work.
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Rebel Blacks’ mission in life is to #thrive, #heal and #evolve. She was raised on a farm in rural NSW Australia and is the CEO & Founder of THE Rural Woman, a global business which she operates (out of Lightening Ridge), with support a remote team of rural women, from her office on the opalfields in Lightning Ridge, Outback NSW. Rebels work is about inspiring rural women to #bloomwheretheyare.
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