Fiona Lake

Fiona Lake runs unique drone workshops across Australia, via the Rural Drone Academy.

These unusually comprehensive, grassroots education sessions draw on all that Fiona has learned over a 3-decade long career as a professional agricultural and aerial photographer. A plethora of advanced drone and business tips are included along with all the fundamentals she wishes she’d known from the outset.

As well as events in every state, Fiona has received repeat invitations to speak at many of the world’s largest drone conferences on four continents. She was a 2022 AirWards finalist (Education), 2021 AAUS award winner (Education & Safety), 2020 IFAJ ‘Star Prize for Photography’ winner and a 2018 ‘Woman to Watch in UAS’.

Fiona firmly believes ‘if it to be, it is up to me’ and her work remains founded on philanthropic aims – advocacy and capacity building for rural and remote residents. In recent years she has stepped up her efforts to improve the drone industry’s diversity, lift professionalism and assist recreational owners. Much of this work centres around building confidence in women and encouraging older people to be role models and mentors; inspiring the cautious to give it a go; and helping event organisers increase their speaker diversity.

Fiona grew up on a family farm and has lived on a range of agricultural enterprises in temperate and tropical climates, including cattle stations up to a million acres in size.