Converting the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic into managing different possible futures is a key message for the Wimmera from agronomist Kate Burke.
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The former Murtoa resident lived in the Wimmera for 22 years where she collaborated closely with farmers during the drought years through her work in agriculture research, teaching and consulting.
She has since shifted back to her home of Echuca and founded company Think Agri, which has allowed her to use her PHD in agronomy and lived experience to provide advice to investors and farmers.
"I'm really passionate about helping people thrive in agriculture," she said. "A lot of the work I do is around the people side of the whole equation and getting the best out of yourself."
Dr Burke will present a webinar on Wednesday afternoon with Wimmera Development Association called 'Weathering the storm: Using personal power to steer yourself and your community through uncertain times'.
"It really comes from my experience of working as a consultant in a period of tough times over a long period of time and then learning the hard way what I could have done back then to manage myself through all of that," she said.
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"There's a lot you can do that is in your control about how you manage yourself and the decisions you make on what you get involved in and what you don't get involved in.
"That will really help people as we go through this uncharted territory."
Dr Burke said the COVID-19 pandemic was different from the drought in the the way it affected people because everyone was impacted personally.
"In terms of agriculture it's really lucky," she said. "It's only just been a little bit more difficult to do things logistically compared to other industries that have been absolutely decimated.
"In a drought situation the people on the frontline are those involved in agriculture, service provision or the farmers themselves but this time the frontline is really those in the health system.
"In regional and rural areas we are actually used to dealing with uncertainty.
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"So we can take those lessons from how we manage droughts, how we make decisions when we're never quite sure what the weather is going to do, and apply those skills to situations in the health system, such as working through scenario analysis."
Dr Burke said she had been speaking with friends and family in the health sector about how to apply her agri-businesses principles to assist a different industry.
"In terms of particularly managing the burden on yourselves and the burden that people might feel I guess there is a high applicability to those in the health industry," she said.
"Wimmera Health Care Group chief executive Catherine Morley is actually one of the people registered for the webinar."
Dr Burke said getting adequate rest was a critical factor in the ability for people to be able to perform their roles in this difficult time in the long-term.
"It's about understanding that you need to look after yourself to be able to make good decisions," she said. "Our culture has been to put your head down and work hard and when things get tough work harder, but resilience isn't stoicism.
"Resilience is that ability to be able to be productive, get through difficult time and stay well. That's the challenging part."
Join Dr Burke's free webinar 'Weathering the storm: Using personal power to steer yourself and your community through uncertain times' hosted by Wimmera Development Association at 1pm on Wednesday.