5 January 2020, The Conversation, As bushfire and holiday seasons converge, it may be time to say goodbye to the typical Australian summer holiday. For 40 years I have studied bushfires in Australia. It has been my life’s work to try to better understand Australian landscapes and the interaction of humans and landscape fire. As we contemplate a future where catastrophes like the one currently engulfing Australia become increasingly frequent, there’s an idea to which I keep returning: maybe it’s time to say goodbye to the typical summer Australian holiday. Perhaps it’s time to rearrange Australian calendar and reschedule the peak holiday period to March or April, instead of December and January. It’s easy to dismiss this idea as stupid but that’s the nature of adaptation. Things that once seemed absurd will now need serious consideration. What’s truly absurd is the business-as-usual approach that sees thousands of holidaymakers heading directly into forests and national parks right in the middle of peak bushfire season. Read more here