The forums will focus on the working lives of Jo Lenehan, Pippa Childs and Nadja Wallington and be accompanied by vodcasts produced by ABC Open Central West producer Luke Wong.

Cowra local Pippa Childs will talk about her life as a civil engineer in a regional town.

Ms Childs’ vodcast talks about her work designing critical infrastructure of regional towns and ensuring they work in harmony with the environment.

The young civil engineer is passionate and maybe even a little obsessive about her work.

Jo Lenehan, is an ecologist and will be talking about her pelican breeding research at Lake Brewster and the challenges of field work. 

Ms Lenehan originally studied as a vertebrate pest ecologist and when opportunity called she found herself working in environmental water management. During her research she has learnt some interesting facts about the birds and the important role they play in the waterways.

Orange winemaker Nadja Wallington will talk about chemistry, micro-biology and botany and how these areas form the foundation of her work. 

To improve her palette Ms Wallington’s career has taken her to many exotic locations around the world, however, behind the taste tests and wine competitions there are long hours in the field, shed and the lab to create the perfect drop.

These forums are part of the Science Hub’s National Science Week events and will be followed by panel discussions in order to provide community members with opportunities to learn more about careers in ecology, civil engineering, wine-making, renewables, geology and ceramics.

The Cowra forums will be held at The Oxley on August 21 from 6pm – 8pm, there will also be a DJ11 Spark Drone up for grabs as a forum prize.

For further information on the forums contact the Orange, Cowra and Cabonne Science Hub convener Phoebe Cowdery on 0413 910 697.