History of the Bureau of Meteorology Building on Observatory Hill by Richard Whitaker, 3 June, 6:30pm

Fort Street Public School, on Observatory Hill, has recently been extended and renovated to include the historic 1928 Bureau of Meteorology Building and the Messengers Cottage that once housed the Sydney Observatory Messenger. There is significant history and heritage related to these buildings and Richard Whitaker will take us on a journey revealing the past.

In this illustrated zoom presentation we will have the opportunity to understand more about the history, and the development of meteorology after Federation in NSW and Australia.

Bio

Richard "Dick" Whitaker is a well-known Australian meteorologist and author who had a thirty-year career as a meteorologist with the Bureau of Meteorology before becoming the chief meteorologist for the Weather Channel. He was awarded an Australia Day Achievement Award for his work in meteorology. In 1992, Whitaker became the New South Wales manager for special services, dealing with exceptional circumstances and disaster recovery operations and he contributed significantly to the aviation weather charts and the way meteorology is communicated to the public via mass media. He has authored several publications, one of his most recent is Weather, Waves & Water, The New South Wales Central Coast. Sydney, Australia: Weathersmart Publishing, 2021.