Fulbright scholar makes emergency plans

Business

MBA student Christopher Ainsworth is hoping his Fulbright Scholarship to the United States will open up new opportunities for Australia in emergency services education.

Thanks to a Fulbright Professional Scholarship, Mr Ainsworth has left for the US to conduct 10 months of research into emergency operations and the use of training for full-time and volunteer emergency management.

He will be based at the Offices of Emergency Management in Austin and Dallas, Texas.

"The lessons learned from my time in the US will be integrated into an Advanced Diploma of Public Safety - Emergency Management, enhancing the program and incorporating 'emerging world practice' standards," said Mr Ainsworth, who is Executive Officer of the Risk and Emergency Management Education Centre (raemec) and a Country Fire Service (CFS) volunteer.

"On my return to Australia, I'm also hoping to develop an applied undergraduate degree program in Emergency Management, which represents a major opportunity for Australian universities both for domestic and international students.

"There's a real opportunity to develop an undergraduate pathway for professionals in Emergency Management because the skills and knowledge required in emergency operations are both broad and specialised. For example, managers in this field require skills in human resources, finance, volunteer and emergency management. These are not the kinds of skills you can obtain from any one degree program currently available in Australia today," he said.

Mr Ainsworth is currently completing an MBA with the University of Adelaide's Business School, and has completed two Advanced Diplomas in Public Safety, Emergency Management and Community Safety with Swinburne University of Technology and a Diploma of e-Learning at the University of Technology Sydney.

In 2001, he was named an Australian National Training Authority - Flexible Learning Leader, and in 2002 he was awarded a South Australian Emergency Services Levi Grant to pilot and implement his Flexible Learning Leaders Research.

As a volunteer with the South Australian CFS, Mr Ainsworth has influenced the introduction of the Advanced Diploma of Public Safety - Firefighting Management into the suite of leadership programs in 2008, two years ahead of its scheduled introduction.

His scholarship is the Vocational Education and Training (VET) Fulbright Scholarship, which is sponsored by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations.

Applications are now open for Fulbright Scholarships for 2009. For more information, visit: www.fulbright.com.au

Story by David Ellis