Keen for an opportunity to expand her skills and to experience working life outside the Bureau, Sue participated in the Senior Women in Management scheme in 1991. For her work placement, Sue spent a challenging eight months as a management consultant, working on a range of strategic management contracts for public and private organisations.

One of Sue's current tasks, a booklet on Greenhouse, is aimed at explaining climate change and Greenhouse effects to general readers, including students.

It will include colourful explanatory graphics, drawing heavily on the recently completed Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change assessment. Sue attended a session of the IPCC in Rome last December.

Over the last year, Sue's involvement with the IPCC and with the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change has led to frequent overseas visits as a member of Australian delegations. With a husband who is also frequently overseas and two young sons to care for, the 'balancing act' can sometimes get pretty complicated, but as Sue says, "so far we have been able to avoid being away at the same time!"

The beneficial side of the travel is that Sue does occasionally get time to indulge in her favourite pastimes of wine tasting and photography.

Sue recalled a humourous moment when she was interviewed on Sydney radio about a paper she was to present at a conference on the use of satellite imagery in weather forecasting. The producer put her on hold and she could hear the presenter in the background introducing her.

However, in his introduction, the presenter assumed that "Dr Barrell" was a male. It was a good thing for the embarrassed presenter that Sue has a sense of humour.

Bureau of Meteorology