Kristy Scalora

Hometown: Swan Hill
Occupation: Environmental conservation
Area of Interest: Environmental restoration and resilience

How is climate change impacting your community?
I see the need to combat climate change on all fronts, working with the environment, businesses and government.
Personally, I would like to see more renewable community power generation to supply local people with reasonably priced power and improve our adaptive capacity.
I have some farmers in my family and we are all noticing the different weather patterns. Costs are increasing with the hotter and drier seasons and making it difficult to make a profit.
Through my work in conservation I’ve seen a change in attitude from government to incorporate adaptation which is positive as the changes have already occurred and continue to occur. However, there is a barrier with the general community about acknowledging and understanding climate change.

What are you passionate about changing?
I want to change the perception that caring about our natural environment is not just something for ‘hippies’. It is everyone’s responsibility to care for the land that supports us. The required work will have to be a collective effort as climate change is complex and affects everyone and everything around us.