Yesterday was the saddest day in Ripple Effect’s history. Yesterday we were absolutely devastated to learn that our dear friend and colleague, Natalie Hardwicke, had passed away unexpectedly over the weekend.

Nat was an incredible person – deeply intellectual, although she didn’t think of herself in that way; funny and witty, her infectious sense of humour injected an irreplaceable dimension to our workplace; deeply philosophical and sharply insightful, she was intrigued by daily patterns of behaviour and often asked rhetorically: Why would someone do that?“ Then answer the question herself!

Her profound analytical skills enabled her to question accepted approaches and allowed us to explore through her guidance a range of different perspectives. We were constantly learning from her.

Nat was in the closing stages of a PhD at the University of Sydney, which we were privileged to sponsor and provide her with a practical workplace to test her hypothesis – it was going to be a pivotal piece of work transitioning techno-philosphy in a world dominated by digital determinism.

As a team, we are all in shock and coming to terms with how we will function without her – the void will be enormous.

To her family and her colleagues at University of Sydney –  we are all missing a very special person. We can’t imagine the world without her right now.