The Australian Citizen Science Association congratulations the three Finalists of the 2019 Department of Industry, Innovation and Science Eureka Prize for Innovation in Citizen Science. We look forward to seeing these worthy finalists on the red carpet at the Australian Museum during National Science Week for the presentation of awards at Australia’s “Science Oscars”.
The three finalists are:
Frog ID (Australian Museum)
FrogID is a national citizen science project aimed at understanding and conserving one of the most threatened groups of animals on the planet. Using a free smartphone app, participants record and submit information on calling frogs. In less than two years, FrogID has transformed the scientific community’s understanding of the distributions, breeding seasons and habitats of frogs.
Virtual Reef Diver (Queensland University of Technology)
By harnessing the power of citizen scientists, Virtual Reef Diver seeks to dramatically increase the amount of environmental monitoring data for the Great Barrier Reef. Crowd-sourced images are uploaded, geo-located and analysed online, providing valuable scientific information that reef managers can use to make better decisions at a scale not previously achieved.
Zika Mozzie Seeker (Metro South Health, Queensland Health)
One of Australia’s first health-based citizen science projects, Zika Mozzie Seeker empowers communities to monitor urban mosquitoes in South East Queensland backyards. Using collection kits, members of the public collect mosquito eggs and submit them for DNA analyses, the shared data is increasing public confidence that Zika outbreaks are unlikely.