One of the parts of my role that I most enjoy is working with the young people who are, or hope to soon be, taking on roles in the minerals and energy industries.

Most of us have now settled in for another year, with kids excited to be back among their school friends, and mums and dads excited to be back as work (of course we are!). Sadly for many Queensland families, life will never be the same after this summer.

Apparently, the practice of celebrating New Year on 1st January started around 46BC when Julius Caesar introduced the solar calendar. “January” was named after Janus – the god of gateways and new beginnings – who had one face that looked forward and the other that looked back.

A geologist mate told the story of how a taxi driver once asked him what he did for a job. He said he was a geologist and the driver responded: “I always thought that’d be fascinating – studying the ancient Egyptians and that”. Just for the record, of course that’s not what geologists do.

As you might know, QER has a Visitors Centre at our Yarwun Technology Demonstration facility. One of the parts of my job that I really enjoy is sharing QER’s story with the visitors from the Gladstone community and from all around Australia.

This month we’re excited to be commencing some new development work in our Gladstone laboratory. We have upgraded our “MFA Bench” which is a mini benchtop version of our process for extracting oil from rock.

As soon as we are born, we start learning. We learn to crawl, walk, eat solids, and the reactions that a smile or cry can make. As our life continues, we go to school, University, and continue our learning in the workplace.

Recently, we celebrated NAIDOC week – in which we celebrated and recognized the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

QER is once again a proud sponsor of Ecofest – one of Gladstone’s best family events. It will be held at the Toondoon Botanical Gardens on Sunday 5th June from 9am to 3.30pm.