Insiprational Women

Amelia Tandy

Class of 1997

In a bold bid to tackle the global dearth of women leaders in STEMM, Amelia Tandy is taking her commitment to leadership to the end of the earth after being chosen as a Homeward Bound participant.

Homeward Bound is a global 12-month leadership initiative for women with a background in STEMM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medicine). The initiative aims to heighten the influence of women in STEMM in order to influence policy and decision making as it shapes our planet. An additional benefit is that women in STEMM and in leadership positions are visible, tangible role models and mentors for our future leaders.

This 12-month program includes online learning to increase leadership capacity, strategic capability and collaboration, and culminates in a meeting of all 100 participants in Ushuaia, Argentina before embarking on a life-changing expedition to Antarctica, at the end of 2019.

Amelia is one of 100 participants in its fourth program, encompassing women of 33 nationalities aged 21 to 69.

After graduating from St Clare’s Amelia completed a BSc at Flinders University in 2002. She then spent a year in Johannesburg working for a charity that helps children with severe burns; and a year in Amsterdam working for Greenpeace International. Since returning from overseas she has worked for state and federal government environment departments, mainly on marine policy issues. Recently she joined the Climate Science Centre at CSIRO.

“I'm trying to bridge the gap between science and policy so that we can make better decisions, based on scientific evidence. As a public servant, I see lots of people working on a problem alone and being afraid to take risks. Climate change is one of many complex problems that humanity is grapling with. Given my privileged upbringing I feel a strong sense of responsibility to help others and to help the planet. To meet today's challenges the world needs great women scientists, and it needs inspiring women leading the public sector”.