About us

Annie Lane

Chair, NSW

Annie Lane has over thirty-five years of experience in environmental management. She has worked in the mining industry, for State and Territory Governments, CSIRO and international organisations. Annie’s most recent role was head of Environment in the ACT. Under her umbrella were research, policy and operational aspects of Parks and Wildlife, biodiversity conservation, water and catchment management, natural resource management, environmental protection, and heritage. Annie is now involved in Landcare and Citizen Science projects in the south coast region of NSW. She joined the ACSA committee in November 2021.

Annie has a PhD in terrestrial ecology. She was attracted to ecology because of the intriguing interdependencies within ecosystems. Put people into the mix and it becomes even more interesting! Annie is keen on making connections across organisations and further embedding citizen science in standard approaches to data collection and analysis.

Prof Steve Turton

Vice Chair, Chapter Chair for QLD

Steve is a casual environmental consultant and an Adjunct Professor in Environmental Geography at CQUniversity on the Sunshine Coast. Over more than three decades, and prior to his retirement in July 2016, Steve engaged in a number of roles as a research centre director, professor, associate professor and senior lecturer/lecturer at James Cook University in Cairns. From 2003-2005, he was Director of Research for the Rainforest Cooperative Research Centre. Steve is a Past President of the Australian Council of Environmental Deans and Directors, a past president of the Institute of Australian Geographers and a Past Chair of the National Committee for Geographical Sciences, Australian Academy of Science. In 2009, Steve was recognised with a Cassowary Award for Science from the Wet Tropics Management Authority, for his leadership and vision in the protection of the Wet Tropics World Heritage Area. In 2016, he was honoured with a Distinguished Fellowship of the Institute of Australian Geographers, recognised for his distinguished service to Australian Geography. Steve was the 2017 recipient of the Royal Geographical Society of Queensland’s J.P. Thomson Medal, recognised for his outstanding contributions to Australian Geography over an extended period of time. Steve was an expert reviewer for the IPCC 5th and 6th Assessment Reports, Working Group 2 (Impacts and Adaptation).

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Darryl Ebenezer

Treasurer, QLD

Darryl is the current CEO of Queensland Water and Land Carers Inc. In this role, he has been able to contribute to and support the activities of many citizen scientists and groups across Queensland and Australia.

He is very much a facilitator and enabler and has worked within community environmental groups and assisted with many practical citizen science activities, both on the ground and online. He currently works with more than 500 volunteer groups across Queensland assisting with good governance, risk and insurance, human resourcing, volunteer management and advocacy.

Mary-Lou Gittins

Secretary, QLD

Mary-Lou is an educator and irrigator from Goomburra Valley in the Upper Condamine catchment. She has a strong background in community participation and representation. Over thirty years she has represented Agriculture, Landcare and Natural Resource Management groups at a local, regional, state and commonwealth level.

At the local level in South East Queensland and now Darling Downs she has supported Landcare organisations, planted thousands of trees, and facilitated Waterwatch and Landcare education for children and adults. Mary-Lou has been recognised by her peers and won an individual State Landcare Award in 2003. Then in 2019 for service to conservation and the environment, Mary-Lou received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM).

Currently, she is the Chair of Queensland Water and Land Carers. Locally secretary to the Condamine Catchment Management Association and Allora Medical Support Group.

Sylvia Clarke

Chapter Chair for SA

Sylvia manages the citizen science program of the Murraylands and Riverland Landscape Board in SA. Their citizen science projects connect the local community to nature and the management of regional landscapes while generating important data sets and include; Waterwatch SA, Frogwatch SA, Malleefowl Monitoring, Soil Your Undies, Find Our Fungi, and 1 Million Turtles.  Through knowledge sharing, education, collaboration, and building capacity they enable more people to become active citizen scientists and engage with others beyond the region.  Sylvia has a background in ecological research, community engagement and science communication, and is the current Chair of the SA Chapter of ACSA.

Pat Bonney

Chapter Chair for VIC

Pat Bonney is a citizen science researcher and practitioner, based at RMIT University. With a PhD in environmental management, his research examines the possibilities of citizen science to strengthen connections with waterway management and policy. Since 2017, Pat has served as a general member of the Australian Citizen Science Association Victoria Chapter and member of the ACSA Early and Mid-Career Researcher Working Group. Pat is working with DELWP and the Corangamite CMA to develop a new strategic direction for the Victorian Waterwatch program. He also co-facilitates a community-led citizen science program in East Gippsland, Living Bung Yarnda, which aims at elevating place-based knowledge and concerns for improved environmental management.

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Alex Chapman

Chapter Chair for WA

Alex Chapman has worked in the biodiversity sphere for 40 years as a taxonomic botanist. When appointed as a Research Scientist at the Western Australian Herbarium he was charged with developing the information systems there to eventually provide an authoritative public resource for information on the Western Australian flora, The advent of the public World Wide Web facilitated the development of “FloraBase – the Western Australian Flora‘ website, which synthesised specimen and census data with descriptive data from Paczkowska and Chapman’s Descriptive Catalogue of the Western Australian Flora. Crucial to this was the development of a volunteer team of citizen scientists to gather, digitise and produce taxon images for c. 50% of the WA flora. This was a massive undertaking over some 15 years that produced outcomes provisionally valued at over one million dollars for the WA community,  Subsequently, as a Consulting Scientist at Gaia Resources, an environmental technology company, Alex led the Citizen Science initiative focussing on the development of smartphone for engaging local communities in the capture of crucial ancillary scientific observations.

Eva Ford

Chapter Chair of QLD

I come from a science background due to early childhood encouragement to discover and enquire about the natural world around me. I received a BSc in Australian Environmental Studies when Griffith University was the only institution in Australia offering such a degree. My work history includes soil science at CSIRO, water analyses at Fraser Coast Council, NatureSearch Coordinator for QPWS and, for the past 21 years, I have worked with the Mary River Catchment Coordinating Committee in Queensland. My work involves so many facets of catchment care including engineered river bank stabilisation, biodiversity conservation, rural landholder restoration project planning and implementation, funding business, and, of course a bit of citizen science; WaterWatch and Find a Frog in February. I have been fortunate that my work blends with my life so Mondays are never a problem! I strive to make a difference for people and a world on a precipice.

Lynette Plenderleith

Chapter Chair for NSW

Lynette is a Biodiversity Engagement Specialist in Local Government. She has previously designed citizen science programs and facilitated participantion. She has a PhD in frog ecology from Monash University and a Masters degree in salamander ecology from Towson University in the US. Lynette moved from academia to science communication, mostly working in television and film. She founded the community interest group Frogs Victoria, was the organisation’s first Chair, and now manages communications for them. Originally from the UK, Lynette moved to Australia for its wildlife and she spends her weekends hiking, snorkelling and birdwatching.

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Michelle Neil

Social Media Moderator

In 2011 Michelle’s young son presented her with a spider. A redback spider. After convincing her son not to pick up spiders but to take pictures of them instead Michelle soon found she had over 7000 photos of all sorts of creatures and no idea what any of them were called. Thus a citizen scientist is made. In May 2014, Michelle was invited by Earthwatch to attend the inaugural Australian Citizen Science Association workshop in Brisbane. She found herself co-chair of the Communications Working Group. Michelle and Jessie Oliver co-developed ACSA social media (Twitter, Facebook, & LinkedIn). Since then Michelle, with her orange-coloured iPad clutched firmly in one hand, has been an active social media moderator, poster and tweeter for the ACSA social media platforms. Having worked in analytical chemistry for over a decade Michelle finds herself in an interesting place – a scientist as well as a citizen scientist, with a passion for science communication.

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Lisa Evans

General Member, New Zealand

Lisa originally studied Astronomy, then moved into a career in 3D animation and game development. After years working as a technical artist, Lisa became interested in “serious games” – games that have other goals than just entertainment. She completed a PhD about engaging the public in climate change using games, and has also worked on a number of serious games projects as a tech artist, designer and mentor. Her research focus is on the design and evaluation of digital projects with real, measurable impacts on audiences.

Lisa is interested in citizen science as a means of directly engaging the public in science, and creating online platforms that empower citizen scientists. From 2017-2021 she coordinated the astronomy citizen science project AstroQuest, and from 2020 she has been involved with ACSA as a committee member, consultant, employee and now volunteer. In 2022 Lisa moved with her family from Perth to Dunedin, New Zealand. She continues her involvement with ACSA remotely, as well as its New Zealand counterpart, CitSciNZ.

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Hannah Zurcher

General Member, ACT

Hannah is a keen volunteer at the grassroots level and brings that keenness to her role at ACSA. She has a background in ecology and invertebrate biology, which informs her engagement without limiting it. She firmly believes that there is a citizen science project for every Australian, and hopes to help everyone find their perfect project.

Larissa Braz Sousa

General Member, NSW

I am a Postdoctoral Research Associate in School Science Education using Citizen Science, at the University of Sydney. I lead the Learning by Doing project, exploring citizen science as an approach to science democratisation. My recent research focused on citizen science mosquito surveillance to enhance public health literacy and education outcomes, leading the Mozzie Monitors project. I am also a science teacher from Brazil and a passionate science communicator and citizen science facilitator. I co-founded the not-for-profit Ferox australis and the global citizen science initiative Great Southern Bioblitz. I am particularly interested in citizen science, public health, biodiversity, science education and health equity.

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Bridie Schultz

General Member, QLD

Dr. Bridie Schultz is a co-founder of Sativus Pty Ltd and holds a PhD in Genetics and Conservation, and a Masters of Science Education. Through Sativus, Bridie works with research corporations, universities, schools, and private enterprises to enhance the accessibility of information generated from scientific research. She is passionate about the effective application of research outcomes and lives by the principle that knowledge is only useful if it is shared; scientists spend valuable investment on solving worldwide problems and it is important for the wider community to be informed and involved. Bridie empowers researchers, teachers, students, and communities with the skills to create, conduct and communicate impactful science.

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Professor Hugh Possingham

ACSA Patron

Hugh served as the Queensland Chief Scientist between 2020 to 2022. He is a conservation scientist and mathematician who has held a myriad of advisory roles to environmental NGOs (internationally and nationally), governments of all levels, and universities. Hugh is currently a board member for Birdlife Australia. His most significant contribution to conservation was the co-development of the spatial planning software Marxan. It was first used to rezone the Great Barrier Reef, and is now used in almost every country in the world to inform the expansion of marine and terrestrial protected area systems.

Hugh is a huge advocate for citizen science. He asserts that when people are involved in discovery through citizen science they are empowered to advocate for positive action. In his recent citizen science article in The Griffith Review, he wrote, 

The power of citizen science to remake or reimagine the world lies in the opportunities it gives to everyone involved – opportunities to learn about the world, to pose questions about how we affect the world and to consider how any change can make a difference. Furthermore, being engaged in citizen science provides people with the confidence to speak out about matters they care about and to question policies or decisions with which they disagree.

You may also like to read a blog he wrote about citizen science and birdwatching. Hugh clearly understands citizen science and appreciates the extraordinary value it adds to scientific research and participatory democracy. We look forward to working with Hugh to raise the profile of ACSA and citizen science across society.

Erin Roger

Open Science Liaison

Erin is an experienced Sector Lead, with strong expertise in strategic planning and management working across both the citizen science and biosecurity sectors in her role in CSIRO’s Atlas of Living Australia. Before working for the ALA, Erin worked in climate change adaptation and knowledge management and has a PhD in Terrestrial Ecology. Erin is a 2022 Churchill Fellow and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors as well as the former Chair of ACSA (2017-2021).