She Flies and Four Winds Vineyard have teamed up to deliver the first women, wine and drones event on 20 May.
She Flies believes that gender equality in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) careers builds stronger economies. She Flies generates conversation around gender equality in STEM, using the world of drones to inspire and provide a platform for change to occur. She Flies builds high quality STEM leadership and learning opportunities through drone education.
The event was conceived by She Flies co-founders, Dr Catherine Ball and Dr Karen Joyce and came to fruition when Four Winds Vineyard owner Sarah Collingwood (a keen drone pilot) contacted them to investigate hosting the event at the vineyard.
Dr Joyce says that women make up less than one percent of drone pilots in Australia. This is particularly alarming as drone use will continue to increase in a wide range of industries such as humanitarian aid, conservation, agriculture and engineering, and being able to use drone technology will help women take on these roles.
Sarah has been using a drone on her vineyard to find holes in nets, scare away birds during harvest and show people what activities are being undertaken on the vineyard.
The event will include a relaxed and interactive chat about drones and their applications before participants test their own piloting skills. This will be followed with pizzas, platters and of course a glass of wine.
About She Flies
Dr Catherine Ball and Dr Karen Joyce started She Flies as Australia loses female talent at every stage of the STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) pipeline despite no innate cognitive gender differences. She Flies is on a mission to address this problem.
About Dr Karen Joyce
Dr Karen Joyce is a senior lecturer in remote sensing and spatial science at James Cook University, Cairns. She has worked extensively across Australia and New Zealand as part of academia, industry, government and the military. She loves using drone technology to support her interests in environmental science, particularly for mapping the incredible habitats of the Great Barrier Reef.
Dr Joyce is the co-founder and chief education officer of She Flies where she designs all the educational resources to bring STEM and drones into schools and local community groups. She was the winner of the educational category in the global Women to Watch in the Drone Industry Awards 2017, and has a host of teaching and research innovation awards.
About Dr Catherine Ball
Dr Catherine Ball is the CEO and founder of Remote Research Ranges. Catherine was named the 2015 Queensland Telstra Businesswoman of the Year and 2015 National Corporate and Private Sector Telstra Businesswoman of the Year. In 2015, she was also awarded as an AFR Boss Magazine Young Executive of the Year.
In 2016, she co-founded She Flies to encourage girls and women into STEM careers, and build confidence through learning to fly drones. Catherine is Co-Creator and Technical Convenor of the inaugural World of Drones Conference, held in Brisbane in September 2017, to support the growing drone economy across the Asia Pacific region.
Named a Westpac #100WomenOfInfluence in 2016, Catherine is a passionate advocate of gender equality, women in STEM, and of using technology to enhance communities and for humanitarian applications.
About Sarah Collingwood
Sarah Collingwood was named the Australian Women in Wine Awards owner/operator of the year 2017. She owns and runs Four Winds Vineyard with her husband John and parents Suzanne & Graeme Lunney.
Sarah first purchased a drone in in April 2017 to share the Autumn colours of her Riesling block.