Role Title: Project Intern, Storm Surge
Organisation: Department of Fire and Emergency Services
Internship Period: Semester 2 (July – October)
Location: Cockburn
Storm surges are powerful ocean movements caused by wind action and low pressure on the ocean's surface. These types of events can swamp low-lying areas, sometimes for kilometres inland. Storm Surge poses a significant risk across many coastal communities across Western Australia. The Department of Fire and Emergency Services plays an important role in managing storm surge and is always seeking to improve its knowledge about this hazard.
Addressing the challenge of storm surge risk reduction requires knowledge of the hazard and how it interacts with important factors such as community and physical infrastructure. Much research, data and local knowledge exists to enhance how storm surge is managed. It is the important role of DFES to locate, assess and interrogate this information to inform how emergency managers act before, during, and after storm surge events.
The Intern will work in DFES' Emergency Management Intelligence Branch. They will review research, analyse various information sources and conduct targeted engagement to create a historical register of storm surge events and their impacts in Western Australia. Developing baseline knowledge is critical to better understand the hazard, and this register will play an important role in developing a range of products that support emergency response and community warnings.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) was established on the 1st November 2012, and performs a critical role coordinating emergency services for a range of natural disasters and emergency incidents threatening life and property.
It comprises of 1600 operational personnel and corporate staff members. It also has an extensive network of more than 27,000 volunteers engaged in the delivery of services to the community.
The Operational Research and Development branch’s purpose is to enable the continuous improvement of our operational assets including firefighting fleet, equipment and personal protective clothing to enhance service delivery to the community and increase the capability of the department.