FMA is delighted to announce the 2023 winners of the Harold Sternbeck Medal and YFM Outstanding Presenter Award from the 2023 FMA National Conference in Sydney.

The Harold Sternbeck Medal competition for best presentation overall at the FMA Annual Conference has been an FMA Conference tradition for many years. In 2021, in addition to the Harold Sternbeck Medal, we introduced the Young Floodplain Manager (YFM) Outstanding Presenter Award.
 

The winner of the 2023 Harold Sternbeck Medal is:

· Jonah Chorley (SMEC, QLD) — A Thousand Gauges: Using Personal Weather Stations to Hindcast Extreme Flood Events

The winners of the 2023 Harold Sternbeck Highly Commended Awards are:

· Alex Nero (AECOM, NSW) — Catastrophes, Conversations and Classrooms: Empowering Children to Lead Community Flood Resilience

· Danny Rose (Tweed Shire Council, NSW) — Five years between major floods - what's changed?

A big congratulations to Jonah Chorley, a Young Floodplain Manager, whose presentation was ranked best overall at the Conference and so qualifies for both awards in 2023. Double congratulations to Jonah for such an outstanding effort.

Also double congratulations to Alex Nero, another Young Floodplain Manager, who won one of the Harold Sternbeck Highly Commended Awards and so also qualifies for YFM Highly Commended Outstanding Presenter as well.

These two prestigious competitions are held at the FMA Annual Conference to encourage excellence across all aspects of a Conference presentation. Both 10 minute and 20 minute presentations are included. This year there were a total of 89 presentations.

The Harold Sternbeck Medal is awarded in recognition of Harold Sternbeck's contribution to FMA. Harold was a former Chairman of FMA and FMA’s first Life Member. He was a fierce negotiator on all things flood related, especially the politics of funding allocations.

The FMA Young Floodplain Managers (YFM) network exists to represent, engage, and inspire young floodplain management professionals across Australia to share new ideas and engage in industry discussions. 

In addition to the formal awards, we would also like to congratulate the following presenters, who were also ranked very highly by the judges (in alphabetical order by name):

· Mark Babister (WMAwater, NSW) — How flood behaviour in NSW is influenced by different storm types

· Ed Henty (Drysdale Engineering, Vic) and Erica Deegan (Launceston City Council, Tas) — Managing & Operating a Successful Regional City Levee System - The Launceston Experience

· Jamie Simmonds (Water Technology, QLD) — Community Relocation & Managed Retreat: Lessons from Grantham and Across the Globe

· Mel Taylor (Macquarie University, NSW) and Kat Haynes (Natural Hazards Research Australia, NSW) — Community experiences of the 2022 floods: A coordinated multi-state social research project

· Rhys Thomson (Rhelm, NSW) — Planned Relocation – More than just Property Purchase

· Sharyn Westlake (Greater Wellington Regional Council, NZ) — New Zealand Covid Recovery Climate Resilience Projects – Insights and Experiences.

Once again congratulations to our winners for their great contributions to the success of the 2023 FMA National Conference.

Conference papers and presentations are now available exclusively to FMA Members in the Members' Section of floods.asn.au. If you require login details, please contact Dominique Evans at [email protected].

Pictured: Harold's daughter Denise Harvey and grandson Lachlan with Cessnock Mayor Clr Jay Suvaal. 

Former FMA Chairman, the late Harold Sternbeck AM, has been inducted into the City of Cessnock Hall of Fame for his public service to the community.

The many achievements which contributed to the award included not just his time as a Cessnock Council Alderman, member of the Chamber of Commerce and the Hunter Business Enterprise Centre, but also Chairman of Hunter Catchment Management Trust, and a member of the Executive and later Chairman of the NSW Floodplain Management Authorities (now Floodplain Management Australia).

Harold was active in FMA from 1972, when there were just nine Member organisations. He went on to become Chairman from 1991 to 1999, and Deputy Chairman in 2003 to 2004. Harold was a champion for increasing government funding for floodplain management, going all the way to the top, such as the time he arranged to share a ride with Prime Minister John Howard in his official car during a Hunter Valley tour, and convinced the PM of the value of increasing funding for flood mitigation. 

Harold was awarded the first Life Membership of FMA. He passed away in 2010. 

In recognition of Harold’s extensive service to FMA and his prowess as a persuasive public speaker, the Harold Sternbeck Medal is awarded annually for the best presentation at the FMA Conference.

The Flood Risk Management Short Course returns online this year, commencing in August. The course is hosted by the University of Technology Sydney, with input from FMA and the NSW Government.

Block 1 Introduction to Floodplain Risk Management (FRM)

https://open.uts.edu.au/uts-open/study-area/built-environment/introduction-to-floodplain-risk-management-frm/

11, 18 and 25 August 2023 11 am to 12.30 pm 

Block 2 Effective Consideration of Flood Risk in Land Use Planning

https://open.uts.edu.au/uts-open/study-area/built-environment/effective-consideration-of-flood-risk-in-land-use-planning/

8, 15 and 22 September 2023 11 am to 12.30 pm

Block 3 Managing Flood Risk to Existing Properties

https://open.uts.edu.au/uts-open/study-area/built-environment/managing-flood-risk-to-existing-properties/

6, 13 and 20 October 2023 11 am to 12.30 pm

The course has been designed to:

• Equip you with good understanding of how FRM is undertaken in NSW and other flood prone states in Australia, and the roles of relevant agencies
• Provide you with a solid understanding of the principles of FRM and the desired outcomes of FRM projects
• Improve your skills to work on FRM projects and be more effectively involved in the FRM process
• Enhance your ability to specify and manage FRM projects. 

The cost per Block is $550 (GST-free) Price subject to change. Please check price at time of purchase.

If you have any queries about the course please email:

Associate Professor Jaya Kandasamy, UTS School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, at: [email protected].

If you are interested in joining the network of YFMs, we would love to have you. For more information on joining, visit floods.asn.au/yfm