Adam Steer

Earth systems and geospatial field scientist by trade, bicycle mechanic to pay rent. 8 polar expeditions, a PhD, experience guiding groups in the wilderness and leading teams in the office.

Starting year 5 of a job hunt. #hireme!

See you on the trails / in the mountains!

My consultancy: https://spatialised.net
Stories about trying to be better: https://toolsfortherevolution.com
My CV as a website: https://iamadamsteer.com
Pronouns: Dr / he / him

Public Key

npub1uuezslz30vutlvamazpzxu7rnn375nsxqp4ucm3wz72zs00hpmpswk75qm

NIP-05 Address

adamsteer_at_mapstodon.space@momostr.pink

Profile Code

nprofile1qqswwv3g03ghkw9lkwa73q3rw0peecl2fcrqq67vdchp09pg8hmsascpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfduqs6amnwvaz7tmwdaejumr0dsljqa8m

Publishing to

relay.damus.io

nos.lol

Author Public Key

npub1uuezslz30vutlvamazpzxu7rnn375nsxqp4ucm3wz72zs00hpmpswk75qm

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Last Notes

2026-08-11 08:38:34 UTC

Honestly where do people come from with the whole "just use statistical word guessers to get jobs cause that's what the HR people do" thing?
It's insane. How about any C suite people on here tell HR to stop using statistical word guessers to wrongly evaluate people? Actually do. your. jobs.
#foreverjobhunt #precarity

2026-08-08 10:06:55 UTC

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seriously just use what resonates. we're not robots. I understand completely he OP desire to rewrite to a thing which makes sense, feels like it hangs together better.

2026-08-08 09:57:01 UTC

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R folks saying "o U can't stats in Pthyhon"
...didn't help 🙄
[thousand yard stare from writing out multiple linear regressions in stats exams... oh yeah kid? tell me more... ]

2026-08-08 09:56:24 UTC

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I'm with @npub1r5r…u33l - learned SPSS at uni, found relief with Python, and also while yeah I know Python has its cult, the cult of R seemed/seemd cultier... @npub1wrx…jzp4 @npub1e8h…7zjt

2026-08-06 11:14:57 UTC

On average 25 people per day read something on spatialised.net and / or toolsfortherevolution.com over the past year.
People who hit the digital busking tin? less than 5 in that whole time (and I really appreciate all of you, those amounts were desperately needed at the right times!).
While 25 unique visits a day is *nothing* in web traffic terms, file under "why do people go to shitty platforms and use ads on their websites? Why is the indie web struggling?"

2026-06-30 10:34:45 UTC

RE: https://mastodon.social/@zackwhittaker/116795508582464798
*aherm* #auspol
#note1qqq…mtru

2026-06-28 08:34:19 UTC

I wonder if this year might be the year we start thinking about forest restoration across western Victoria, southwest NSW and the eastern slopes of the great dividing range?
...there's no snow.
Warm temps aside, there's no moisture to fall on the mountains as snow.
No snow also means no spring water flow... so hey broadland farmers out west, and, well, people who eat food in Australia - this affects *you*.
#climate #snow #systems #australia

2026-06-25 11:03:21 UTC

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have a run at SAGA GIS hydrology tools. Or PCRaster ones. If they don't offer a netCDF reader dump the netCDF to geoTIFF. Either via QGIS toolboxes or on the CLI
All of them handle cartesian coords just fine.

2026-05-11 10:28:40 UTC

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Been musing a lot over the years on how the pursuit of research / academia / science is at its core ego-less. We are the messengers, collaborating in order to communicate things about the universe.
...and how deeply dissonant that idea is from how research / academia / science careers happen now. Individualist, ego-driven, rockstar-ism... which repeatedly leads to, well.. we're seeing it.
#academia

2026-05-11 02:56:18 UTC

crikey the ANU leadershit saga is, well..
🤢
...meanwhile world-class researchers (defined by "have published and worked with international collaborators not just the local fishbowl") can't find work.
*sigh*
#academia #auspol

2026-05-10 09:23:59 UTC

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just Grampians (Australia) things
https://mapstodata.s3.eu-west-par.io.cloud.ovh.net/media_attachments/files/116/549/541/982/284/061/original/d2502556d392789d.jpg
https://mapstodata.s3.eu-west-par.io.cloud.ovh.net/media_attachments/files/116/549/542/358/724/998/original/c59f1839a21a7662.jpg
https://mapstodata.s3.eu-west-par.io.cloud.ovh.net/media_attachments/files/116/549/542/707/780/653/original/a16c5bb1edc00fd6.jpg
https://mapstodata.s3.eu-west-par.io.cloud.ovh.net/media_attachments/files/116/549/542/898/884/924/original/50939302859536b2.jpg

2026-05-09 22:46:00 UTC

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nothing to see.
https://mapstodata.s3.eu-west-par.io.cloud.ovh.net/media_attachments/files/116/547/041/155/512/763/original/242882befcc99338.jpg

2026-05-09 20:41:36 UTC

'morning cats and kittens, from someplace silent except for the kookaburra alarm clocks are going off..
https://mapstodata.s3.eu-west-par.io.cloud.ovh.net/media_attachments/files/116/546/548/505/052/597/original/da6c330aeddeb960.jpg

2026-05-08 20:47:34 UTC

OK OSGeo is going to send a survey out about LLM things. Great!
...it hasn't been discussed in public, a big change since I started in open source geospatial things.
...and the language indicates a premeditated result:
"to address eventual concerns and fully harness the power of these novel tools."
...reads as "we will do a survey so we can say we got input and then do whatever the thrusters say".
The concerns are apriori, readable years ago! Power of novel tools? *sigh* 🫩.

2026-04-20 04:15:54 UTC

...just accepted a full time/as long as I want role as a bicycle mechanic.
Henceforth I will be a shill for Big Bike.
Yes, I know. About a third of the salary appropriate to skills/quals/experience. And will never lead to mortgages/updating cars etc. Still firmly in the just keeping wheels on category.
At least, starting next Monday, I know where rent comes from 🙏🏻, and I can work on my (holy crap sized) tax bill...

2026-03-30 06:02:57 UTC

RE: https://benhr.xyz/2026/03/30/universities-b-spend-on-consultants.html
"sorry no research/teaching jobs we have no funding"
#note1e7p…j6vm

2026-03-20 10:13:40 UTC

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...this is tough in academia. I was *great* at separating my identity from my research work, set boundaries - and that was an issue. "You are not serious enough"
I understand, and have seen, that entire essay. Its also been me, trying to find work and fuck. I'm *still* doing a paper review for zero money as in not paid in any way shape or form.
Anyway yes, work is work. Life is life. No matter how tempting, keep a boundary. Even if you love the work.

2026-03-16 13:01:45 UTC

#cartoplay | #lidar | #trailrunning
Messing around with this one again. Who wants to commission some cool / weird map artwork about outdoor things?
https://mapstodata.s3.eu-west-par.io.cloud.ovh.net/media_attachments/files/116/238/975/426/358/740/original/9a79c634aee7d682.jpeg

2026-02-19 02:50:32 UTC

#memories
This is from the most audacious sea ice measurement campaign in Australia's polar history. I proposed, collaborated on, fought for and implemented an entirely novel approach to understand how things fit together on ice floes - the kind of thing that should be career-making.
...I lost funding and have been rejected from every role in the Australian polar program and associated research bodies ever since. Maybe it was too much?
https://media.mapstodon.space/media_attachments/files/116/094/997/711/506/706/original/2cdbc89243d524fb.jpg

2026-01-07 04:14:18 UTC

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all of the above is actually quite the indictment of how science works 😬

2026-01-07 01:17:19 UTC

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Unfortunately...
...also author origin, whether the right co author names are present etc etc.
Hit this hard in Norway... "what do you mean you published on [topic]? We never read anything about it"

2026-01-03 20:50:58 UTC

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My expectation is that one independent senator and maybe the Greens will display some courage and truth.
...and the rest? Probably just the usual attempts to apologetically gaslight us all.
Honestly the geopolitical bullshit industry in Australia has so much to answer for...
#auspol

2026-01-03 19:58:31 UTC

Just waiting for Australia to condemn another illegal invasion and abandon miltary ties with the perpetrators. Like we should have back in 1955.. oops 1990... wait 2003? Hard to know these days...
🍿🍿
#auspol #oilwars

2025-12-28 19:56:32 UTC

Ohai Monday. Yup, it's year 3 of sifting job boards to find things to apply for.
Not sure if/when aerial survey work kicks in again 😬. I'm very happy to hear about ...anything... even short term contracts right now.
... preferably in cryosphere/polar/mountains and related systems (from politics to snow crystal structure. Broad remit). Doable from home or with fully funded fieldwork.
I don't use LLMs, I do engage in statistical analysis ;). Click websites in my bio to see "stuff I've done".

2025-12-23 05:27:26 UTC

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"but if we have to actually read papers instead of the time honoured scan the abstract and skip the rest, or just block citing whatever the other person cited, we can't publish as fast!"
😂😂
Jokes aside, true. It's more imperative than ever to fully read, digest, understand every publication that might be used in an academic endeavor...

2025-12-16 09:05:02 UTC

Out on a little (hot, slow) trail run in #Canberra. First trail outing since back injury, and also dang I am certain I've mountain biked this trail back in the old days!
Honestly there aren't many urban bush trails in CBR I haven't launched a bike up or down over previous years living here. Nice to take a small visit!
https://cdn.masto.host/mapstodonspace/media_attachments/files/115/728/428/070/551/310/original/6105333b49b6e7e1.jpg

2025-11-21 01:52:41 UTC

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yup. It's like, sure. Great! However I saw this future and worked my arse off for something different...
...only to end up back at the start 🤷

2025-11-20 23:56:08 UTC

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"what? Isn't that a waste of education and experience?? Won't that look bad on the CV?"
Are you offering work appropriate to skills, quals, experience??
Ok sit back down.

2025-11-20 23:43:37 UTC

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huh. Interview unlocked for *checks notes* bus driver.
Guess I'll join all the other PhD's over there 🤣

2025-11-20 23:15:46 UTC

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hmm. Executive Manager - Information & Infrastructure Services Platforms at CSIRO.
Great opportunity to disenshittify an entire critical infrastructure!
Likelihood of winning 🤔 ... hmmm is hell frozen over? Do the cats have opposable thumbs?

2025-11-20 22:06:29 UTC

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✅ understands that any fire risk role in DEECA is going to be a lot, lot lot of trying to explain that hectares burned != fire risk reduction..
😬

2025-11-20 21:52:43 UTC

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Hmm bushfire risk manager for DEECA:
✅ is qualified GFF, has fireground knowledges and experience (not much, not zero)
✅ lived experience in very very far far away with no help in the 19/20 fire season, in fact first exposure to fire risk management and property defence was as a 9yo
✅ understands landscapes, weather, fire from many experiences
✅ all the university things ever
Likelihood of being hired? 🤷‍♂️ 🤷‍♂️ it's a lottery.

2025-11-20 19:08:50 UTC

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I keep hearing "don't take all of this personally"
I believed that the first hundred times of "we love your skills and experience and we are not hiring you". And for the first year of contacts ghosting, networks not doing that thing where you're recommended for roles...
Harder now.

2025-11-20 19:04:42 UTC

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..Did I mention I have a [weeks long] work and pay gap, so time for the rest of the month? For freelance work, consulting, yarning about bigger longer term things?
I did over on bizGrindr...
🦗🦗🦗

2025-11-20 19:02:31 UTC

Ok yesterdays pushing back on the bullshits just made the pile bigger 😬.
Forced into stupid FIGJAM mode today by needing to apply for jobs which after the last 3 years feels completely and utterly pointless. Especially since every job has Morphers into a shitAI job.
...but we need to pay rent. And y'know maybe buy those bike parts or a bike that actually fits youngest teenager etc etc etc all the things we ideally *would have been doing* in a fair world.
🤷🥱😫

2025-11-19 03:15:00 UTC

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I was hit by a political cleanout. In 2008 I was actually working as a scientist, hadn't started PhD yet!
I see people retiring insert their favoured protege rather than an "outsider" regardless of skills, quals, reputation as a great person to work with.
Haven't had stable work since Feb 2023. Whatever I can grab for $$$ is what I do.
Contract aerial surveying is super precarious, although better than cleaning bins or hosing dead things off trains.
🤷

2025-11-19 02:55:19 UTC

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I've had ...3... ...years... ...of... ...exactly... ...that...
3 years I could have been actively improving the world through science. Or teaching people to stay safe in the mountains. Or guiding orgs away from huge risks with proprietary mapping tools.
...but nope.
🤷🤷
#academicChatter

2025-11-03 03:48:40 UTC

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yeah the promise of publicly funded science has more or less become new feudalism / patronage. It's been that way since at least a decade.
How I've seen it working is this: if you were already secure 10 years ago and had power in the system then, you can get big things funded. If not, sucks to be you. Unless you are a handpicked protege who will continue the dynasty - ie don't do research which might not support the story of - or might not be claimable by - whoever is higher up.

2025-11-03 00:56:01 UTC

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I worked with both Australian and Norwegian government agencies for polar research. At the outset (nearly 2 decades ago) we did this kind of work - slow, arduous, uncertain. It's become much more driven by the interests of whoever has the most political power in the organisation now.
3yr is far to short. A field campaign might take 3-10 yr to set up. Then 5 yr to publish anything but the basics. Even if you land on a goldmine of existing data, the first paper might be 5yr away...

2025-11-02 21:51:53 UTC

Where does one get funding (and support for offices/labs/logistics) these days for researching the weird little parts that produce a paper maybe every 5 years, are hard and expensive to do, and don't make rock stars out of researchers - yet are like the thermal paste in a computer - or that little locking wire on the bolt holding an aircraft engine together?
...because that's what I want to do (and have a track record of being great at!)
#smallScience #funding #research

2025-09-14 00:53:07 UTC

Just reading the core team proposing to put large infrastructure in the ocean to divert water flow:
Engineer
Politician
CTO
Ship engineer
Ship engineer
Intergenerational CEO
Precambrian geologist
Philanthropist
..oh. One ice sheet modeller?
... whose voices are missing at the strategic level? 🤔
Unfortunately we are probably gonna be forced to a FAFO event, mess with a bunch of ecosystems we don't understand and pollute the Ocean some more on this one.
#climateChange #oceanography

2025-09-12 19:24:08 UTC

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wow.. that's ...an approach?
I hope most folks these days write or call to say hey can we discuss some stuff in your paper and maybe write an update together... or similar. Especially people who know each other's work...
🤷‍♂️

2025-09-12 03:12:36 UTC

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:( I'm guessing comments were something other than "awesome work, well done!"

2025-09-11 23:55:21 UTC

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it's a disaster decades in the making. And not much different from many other universities.
I thoroughly enjoyed my undergrad time, and often wish I had moved my (ARC funded) doctorate there (wow doctoral candidates esp. ones bringing new money were treated a LOT better than at UTAS). Unfortunately could not find a willing collaborator / office space.
My experience as post-PhD staff was totally different. Blockers everywhere. Wrong academic lineage or some such thing 🤷

2025-09-11 21:44:22 UTC

As a graduate and former employee of #ANU, recent events have me reaching for the popcorn on one hand 🍿 ...
...and on the other, well, it's just another soap opera drama between extremely wealthy people over how precisely how to preserve their privilege at the expense of an institution and what it used to represent (fearless inquiry, education etc), with zero consequences for themselves 🤷‍♂️.

2025-07-27 02:39:40 UTC

Flashback to 2012 and drilling through 9.4 metres of first year sea ice off East Antarctica - just next to the surveying tripod. A two-person team effort adding metre lengths of auger one at a time until we hit ocean.
Was this an outlier for the region/time? combined upward looking sonar and airborne lidar say no.
#fieldwork #seaice #polarResearch #climate #SIPEX2012
https://cdn.masto.host/mapstodonspace/media_attachments/files/114/922/849/613/178/579/original/a7b9a97715dd83dd.jpg

2025-07-25 23:02:05 UTC

Age verification on the internet falls solidly into the category of "anything to avoid building a society which is designed for actually supporting the work of parenting"
Can tell you from experience, working to give kiddos the support they deserve has been mainly a 16 year long bullshit navigation and mitigation.

2025-05-24 08:04:20 UTC

An Antarctic Petrel over sea ice, captured from the top deck of RSV Aurora Australis, probably in 2008?
So cool to have the opportunity to try and photograph birds from above!
And this voyage turned out to be a crazy story that you've probably never heard....
#Antarctica #photography #storytime
https://cdn.masto.host/mapstodonspace/media_attachments/files/114/561/765/230/930/230/original/d42b503b2ab7bc0d.jpg

2025-02-05 10:14:06 UTC

Hey fedi folks. While I'm currently gratefully employed, I'd very much appreciate hearing about longer term professional roles that don't involve being away from home for, well, a lot 😬.
Here's my CV: https://iamadamsteer.com/cv/
...and my little geo-research-consulting business: https://spatialised.net
Published research scientist, capable leader of people, deeply experienced geospatialist, proficient budget wrangler, strategic systems thinker.
#fedihire #fedihireme

2025-02-02 05:49:42 UTC

Flew over a textbook fire scar this morning! This one looks like it was a reasonably fast moving grass fire pushed by wind. Red circle on right is the heel / ignition source. Purple lines are flanks, red arc on left is the fire front. Blue arrow is wind direction.
Yellow line is a mini ridge line where fire would have slowed after crossing over. I'm guessing it was attacked there, stopping movement below the quarry at the left. Looks like it just ran out of fuel at the quarry.
#fireAnatomy
https://cdn.masto.host/mapstodonspace/media_attachments/files/113/932/694/831/871/337/original/4bd692a5f33919de.jpg

2024-12-25 06:28:45 UTC

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Above all don't be a fucking fuckwit. Keep your chainsawing and 4wd'ing and power tool and drone flying things for another day. Delay your camping plans. It's just one day.
If you're the army make sure your helicopters aren't spark making 🤔 (yes, I was in Canberra that one time..)
Any burn tomorrow will be an absolute monster shitfight. Nobody needs it.

2024-12-25 06:22:25 UTC

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..because if the shit part happens your suburban water and power may be cut. You can't guarantee your taps will work. It's not water to put fires out, it's for you to drink and stay cool!
Fuel is because you may be forced to leave and not come back for a while.
Travel? If you're away from home you may not be allowed to return.
No need to panic, just.. prepare. 9/10ths of managing shit events is being aware that they might come to your door.
Stay safe! May your skies stay clear 🌄🌞

2024-12-25 06:18:59 UTC

...I know it's Christmas day and everyone is busy chilling. However most of Victoria West of the Hume has an extreme fire danger rating ahead tomorrow.
If you live anywhere near extensive bushland, even a few suburbs deep, please prepare.
Fill all your water containers today. Have some fuel in the vehicle if you have one. If you must travel, stay close to home and family.
Maybe nothing happens? If it does, it gets really shit really fast.
1/2
#extremeFireDanger #regionalVictoria

2024-10-06 03:01:32 UTC

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one of my strangest Norwegian experiences was being told my (native) English was incorrect because grammarly said so. A lot of papers coming out from the org were this kind of stilted difficult English, I tried to help, it got weird 😝.
I get it, people are trying. Telling native speakers they're doing it wrong doesn't help 🤔. I reckon a good fix is to allow publishing in any language, we can translate these days...

2024-08-27 14:36:43 UTC

A few years ago I wrote a story about terrain analysis for static avalanche risk factors, it is time for an update.
I didn't include rocks and cliffs - for reasons which, well, provide this opportunity to do more!
So I'm writing them into the story now. Stay tuned...
*strong caveat, the methods I used to find rocks and cliffs here may only work in relatively mellow Australia. It's time to crack out the Kvaløya lidar for more play.
#backcountrySkiing #lidar #landscapeanalysis #gischat
https://cdn.masto.host/mapstodonspace/media_attachments/files/113/034/480/196/769/789/original/2596b12891f108b3.jpeg
https://cdn.masto.host/mapstodonspace/media_attachments/files/113/034/480/199/024/931/original/1c61ceccf0e8adb3.jpeg

2024-07-31 00:00:07 UTC

Australia has some pretty decent skiing zones, if you're prepared to tour! These are the western faces of the main range - holding Australia's highest peaks.
It's a complex region! We always need our dynamic terrain assessment heads on.
If you're interested in maps like this / the data behind it / further work (ATES ratings / other terrain or vegetation analysis) reach out.
🏔️ ❤️
#openForCommissions #openForHeadhunting #fedihire #snowsafety #mountains #backcountrySkiing #gischat #foss4g
https://cdn.masto.host/mapstodonspace/media_attachments/files/112/878/119/589/339/900/original/37b496d6b9a9fa2e.jpeg

2024-05-18 06:53:50 UTC

It's job application weekend again with 5 weeks on the current clock. It is painful. there's nothing that really "fits" skills or location (Bendigo, Victoria, Australia). No permanent roles, all short term.
If you want to headhunt a highly trained, super experienced, skilled researcher and geospatial data analyst, who can lead teams and develop concepts from dream to strategy to reality to results, and is trusted to get remote work done - reach out! Save me and my referees a pile of effort.