This month, the career spotlight is on Rohan Burgess, Surveillance Manager at Plant Health Australia. Rohan has worked in the biosecurity space for 13 years, with the last eight years focused on surveillance.
What does a typical workday look like for you?
Juggling a range of projects and deadlines. Attending meetings, writing and reviewing documents and reports.
How long have you worked in this area?
I have been working in the plant biosecurity space since 2011 and in the last eight years I have focused more on surveillance.
How did you find yourself in this career?
I fell into it. My degree was in forestry science with a side of entomology, pathology, botany and ecology. I saw a job advertisement that used those skills and applied.
What roles have you held previously?
I started as a graduate project officer and then progressed to a project officer, project coordinator, and now manager.
What is your most memorable career achievement?
Some of my highlights would be watching the evolution of the citrus and forest biosecurity programs and being a founding member of PSNAP (I was the fifth person to sign up during the pilot phase).
What advice would you give to others starting/changing their career?
Always be willing to learn new things.
