Jakob Schulz

7.00 AM

First alarm snooze in 5-minute intervals over the next hour.

8.00 AM

Once I finally stumble out of bed, I pour one big coffee and get ready for work. I live about a 10-minute bike ride away from work along the lake. The Canberra winter mornings are frosty (and you only have to forget your gloves once to learn that’s a bad idea) but it’s a refreshing, scenic ride in. (that’s the lake behind the fog, by the way)

9.00 AM

Start to settle in at the desk and have a quick chat with the team. The department and my team in particular are highly flexible with when I start work (and working from home arrangements) so in reality the start time varies from 8:30-9:30am. A typical morning in my current rotation involves opening my emails and checking the departments media updates or scrolling the news for anything relevant. It’s not uncommon to find something interesting that sparks an idea or new potential projects to research. Emails are very similar in that the day’s work can often be defined by what I’m sent, by who, and how I need to respond.

9.30 AM

If I wasn’t caffeinated enough as it is, I’ll organise one of our weekly coffee roulettes with another graduate. These are normally a great chance to have a one-on-one chat about work and life in a more casual setting. Typically, the sun has started to come out by now and it’s also a great chance to have a walk around outside. Sometimes you’ll even bump into some other graduates around this time and end up having a group chat!

10.00 AM 

The real work begins here. Now I know the priorities for the day, I can get stuck in. My team focuses on supporting critical water infrastructure to remote communities across Australia. One part of this role is evaluating project proposals for funding and communicating back and forth with states or specific proponents for further details to strengthen the overall proposal. The part I find most interesting about the role is the policy research that accompanies it. The amount of water insecurity experienced in regional and remote Australia is honestly baffling. Much of what I have been doing is trying to gain an understanding of the challenges across the States and Territories around water insecurity in these communities and gather information on fit-for-purpose technologies that we may be able to utilise. I have been able to heavily lean on my scientific research background to find and critique technologies and information, as well as utilising my broad network from around the department I gained from my previous rotation.

12.30 PM

Lunch! Despite having prepared lunch for myself prior, I inevitably forget it at home and will likely grab something from the Café. The DCCEEW grads are clingy and afraid of change, so we will always meet at the same table outside and eat lunch together.  

1.00 PM

I have found much of my work to be quite cross-cutting and have begun to lean on the other grads for their expertise and advice. For example, I organised this meeting with a few to discuss a topic I came across in my research as I knew they had all had experience in some aspect of it. Having a network to bounce ideas off and leverage ultimately lead me to forming a connection with another division in the department that could link into our work and provide a new approach to engaging with stakeholders and delivering water.

3.00 PM

Two things are certain in this world. One is lunch at 12:30, the other is Tea at 3, where whichever grads are around and free will congregate for their daily afternoon pick-me-up and a gossip. After a 10-minute break, it’s back to work.

5.00 PM

Time to head home and appreciate the sun on the ride (forgetting about the subzero morning until the next day). I’ll head to the shops on the way home to grab stuff for dinner, cook up a storm with my partner and then relax for the evening with some wine.

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