Tasmanian copywriter – Ruth Dawkins Freelance Writer

Copywriting, Feature Writing, freelance life, Writing

August 2025: some recent work

August 28, 2025August 28, 2025 DorkyMum

It’s been a few months since I did a post about my work projects, so I thought I would pop on here and share a few links!

Firstly, a thank you to Brand Tasmania, who continue to be one of my most regular clients – and also one of my favourites! My work for them involves taking interview transcripts and turning them into profiles. Sometimes there are a few as part of a series – women in sport, or healthcare workers – other times it’s just an inspiring individual who in some way captures what it means to be Tasmanian. My recent profiles have included:

Continue reading “August 2025: some recent work” →

Feature Writing, freelance life, Writing

July 2024: some recent work

July 11, 2024July 11, 2024 DorkyMum

July already! Goodness me, how did that happen? This year seems to be galloping along at an incredible pace.

It has been a very busy year for me so far, with a great combination of shorter one-off projects and longer tasks that I can really immerse myself in. I hope the second half of the year continues in the same way – although perhaps with fewer family medical dramas. Thank you to all my wonderful clients for your patience and flexibility as we worked through that tricky little spell.

It’s always fun to take a moment and reflect on the variety of work that has come across my desk, and this update is no exception.

Continue reading “July 2024: some recent work” →

Copywriting, freelance life

January 2024: some recent work

January 31, 2024 DorkyMum

We have somehow reached the end of January already!

It’s still school holidays here in Tasmania for another week, but now that my kiddo is a little older – and very able to entertain himself – I’ve managed to get some work done over the last few weeks and thought I would share some links with you.

Continue reading “January 2024: some recent work” →

Copywriting, Feature Writing

October 2023: Some recent work

October 3, 2023 DorkyMum

This is a bit of a fly-by blog post!

I’m just back from a wonderful three weeks visiting family and friends in the UK, and my inbox needs more than a little attention… but the list of articles I’ve had published recently has also been growing steadily. I thought I’d better pop some links up here before I start delving into new work.

It has been an especially busy spell for my work with CSIRO. The pieces I’ve worked on for them recently include:

An explainer on carbon, capture, utilisation and storage
A blog post about research on Indigenous values in ecosystem accounting
An article on sustainable aviation fuel
A post about marine heatwave forecasting
An article on future energy bill savings that can result from electrification
And a piece for Resourceful about a tool used by geologists called MyLogger

I have a couple of other CSIRO articles in the publication pipeline, which I’ll share in my next post.

It has also been quite a busy time with Brand Tasmania. Not all of those articles have made it onto the website yet, but the two that have are about Archie Matteo from Westhaven Dairy, and Royce Smith from Granville Harbour Wind Farm.

Finally, I was really pleased to help out the team at Swansea Beach Chalets with content for their revamped website. Swansea Beach Chalets is our favourite place to stay on Tasmania’s East Coast, and it was an honour to help them showcase some of what they have to offer!

Thanks for taking the time to check out some of my recent work. Now, back to that inbox… and let’s see what I’m going to be working on next!

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Copywriting, Writing

July 2023: some recent work

July 15, 2023 DorkyMum

It’s only been about a month since I last posted links to some recent pieces of mine, but I’ve been so busy recently that I thought I would post a few more – before the list gets out of hand!

Let’s start with the most recent pieces I’ve worked on for CSIRO. The first is on building resilient seafood supply chains, the second is a piece about direct air capture that I contributed to, the third is about CO2 utilisation in the Northern Territory, and the fourth is about all the work going on behind the scenes to make sure Australia’s energy grid can deal with the huge changes that are coming over the next decade.
Next up, it’s another story that I’ve worked on for Brand Tasmania. These are always great fun to do, and a real inspiration to see what’s taking place around our state. Pop over for a read about disability advocate Jane Wardlaw. I’ve written a couple more of these stories that are still in production and haven’t yet been published, but I’ll share the links as soon as I can.
Finally, here’s a post that’s not from me, but is from my 14 year old son. He’s currently learning to fly with Par Avion, and six months after starting the lessons he has written a blog post abut how it’s all going. Pop over and show him some support with a like or a comment!

Photo by Daria Kraplak on Unsplash

Copywriting, Feature Writing, freelance life, Writing

May 2023: Some recent work

May 12, 2023 DorkyMum

Just a very quick post from me today to share some recent pieces I’ve had published.

These three links say more than I ever could about the diversity of work that comes my way as a freelancer!

Firstly, I was so pleased to have an essay published in Guardian Australia, reflecting on the ten years that have passed since we first visited Tasmania, and everything that has happened in that time. I’ve had a lovely response to the piece, which I was initially just going to pop on my own DorkyMum blog, so I’m very grateful to the Guardian team for giving it a home and helping it find a bigger audience.

You can read that here: I was told to live like a tourist after my 18,000km move. But I owe Tasmania more than that. Continue reading “May 2023: Some recent work” →

Copywriting, Writing

Navigating the net zero transition

March 28, 2023 DorkyMum

My latest piece for CSIRO was published recently, and I thought I’d share a link here because it’s really interesting topic.

The feature was for CSIRO’s Resourceful Magazine, which is focused on content that’s relevant to the minerals value chain, from mining exploration to metal production.

I was lucky enough to speak with some researchers from the recently established Valuing Sustainability Future Science Platform about the work they are doing mapping out potential routes to a decarbonised society – and ensuring that issues of social justice and fairness are taken into account.

I think this is a really important part of the net zero conversation which is often skimmed over in favour of a technology focus, and I’m really pleased to see the national science agency starting to work in this space. I’m excited to see what happens with the Valuing Sustainability FSP over the next couple of years.

If you’d like to read the article, take a look here: Navigating a Path to Sustainability.

Photo by rafael albornoz on Unsplash

Copywriting, Feature Writing

February 2023: some recent writing work

February 9, 2023 DorkyMum

Black text that reads 2023 on a great background

Happy New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful, restful break over the festive period, and you’ve started 2023 feeling enthusiastic and energised!

Here in Tasmania, schools only went back a couple of days ago. While I did manage a few bits and pieces of work over the holidays, it’s nice to be getting those longer stretches of uninterrupted and focused time again.

I thought I would share links a few recent pieces of work. It’s great fun having this blog to look back on and remind myself of what a variety of projects I do each year.

Back in December, I was lucky enough to interview Hobart local Briony Kidd about her tips for visitors to Hobart. That feature was published on Guardian Australia: Platypus spotting, spontaneous nights out, and grassroots energy.
More recently, I had a piece of creative non-fiction published at one of my favourite websites, Caught by the River. That one is called Dog walking at the bottom of the world.
This interview for Brand Tasmania, with Caro and Chris Brown of Brady’s Lookout Cider was really fun to write.
And as ever, I am so grateful to CSIRO for being a regular, ongoing client. Recent pieces I’ve written for them include one for Resourceful Magazine on indicator minerals for nickel exploration, and two for ECOS on carbon sequestration and deep sea mining.

Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Copywriting

My latest for CSIRO

December 12, 2022December 12, 2022 DorkyMum

Photo shows a black, green and blue image that looks like electricity emanating from a black ball. In the corner is a box that reads 'Writing for CSIRO'

CSIRO is one of my very favourite clients.

Sometimes I have to pinch myself, because I feel like it’s a huge privilege helping some of Australia’s top researchers communicate their findings to a wider audience.

The briefs I receive from the Communications Managers across different CSIRO business units are always very thorough and clear, and every single piece I have written has taught me something. The breadth and depth of work that the national science agency undertakes is truly astonishing.

That diversity is on show if you take a quick look at the last three pieces I wrote for CSIRO.

The first: a look at the importance of biodiversity in water assessments in Northern Australia.

The second: proteins of the future, and how CSIRO is working with companies on precision fermentation.

Finally: an exploration of the work CSIRO is doing with a consortium of other organisations to examine the potential impacts of deep sea mining.

I have three other pieces due to be published in the coming weeks, and they are equally varied: they’re on carbon sequestration, indicator minerals for nickel exploration, and potential impacts on regional branding from gas development. Phew! I’ll look forward to sharing those with you very soon.

Photo by Moritz Kindler on Unsplash