2024 ACSA Seed Grant Winner

2024 ACSA Seed Grant Winner

Communication & promotion, CS Project, Grants, Social research in CS
ACSA is very pleased to announce that the 2024 ACSA Seed Grant has been awarded to Kelly Sheldrick and the Conservation Council of WA. This year, the Seed Grant is a combination of $2,000 in financial support, along with additional benefits to be discussed - such as mentoring, grant writing support, promotion, or other non-financial assistance. This grant will go towards "quantifying the power of citizen science to change perspectives of an historically unloved taxa, bats, and collectively identifying effective conservation actions to support bats in a sprawling city". Participants in a training session for surveying bat populations Conservation Council of WAKelly SheldrickThe negative perception towards bats has impacted their conservation and research. This has led to bats being missed from grassroots initiatives and land management plans, as well as…
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Seed Grants 2024 – Call for applications!

Seed Grants 2024 – Call for applications!

Communication & promotion, CS Project, Grants, Showcasing science outcomes
What’s in it for you? $2,000 in seed funding to help kickstart your citizen science initiative, covering essential project costs such as equipment, materials, or participant outreach, or assist with publication costs for an open access journal. Social Media Promotion: Dedicated promotion of your project and organisation across our social media platforms, giving your work increased visibility and helping you engage a wider audience in your research journey. Mentoring (optional): Access to experienced professionals who will provide personalized guidance, helping you overcome challenges and maximize your impact. Training in Grant Writing (optional): Specialised workshops that will equip you with the skills and knowledge to pursue further funding opportunities, helping you sustain and expand your project beyond the seed phase. Motivation to initiate something you have always wanted to do. A…
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Relive #CitSciOz23 on the ACSA YouTube channel

Relive #CitSciOz23 on the ACSA YouTube channel

Communication & promotion, Conferences
ACSA's 2023 national conference was held on the Sunshine Coast from 21 to 23 November 2023, hosted by the University of the Sunshine Coast. It was an epic meeting of the minds, with presentations ranging from data best practice, to citizen science in backyards and gardens, climate change, schools and education, and the latest thinking about science communication and engagement, among many other topics. All presentations in the main auditorium were recorded, and we also have a number of pre-recorded talks from speakers who couldn't make it in person. These videos were made available to registered attendees earlier this year, and were recently opened to the public on the ACSA YouTube channel. Explore our playlist of keynote presentations, or the full playlist of recorded presentations.
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CitSciOz23 – Listen to the podcasts recorded at the conference

CitSciOz23 – Listen to the podcasts recorded at the conference

Communication & promotion, Conferences, Engaging citizens
Ian Campbell, Christine Kemeny and Nadine Gaffney from CitizenScience.Show attended the CitSciOz23 conference last month and recorded a series of interviews about citizen science from multiple different perspectives - including ACSA representatives, citizen scientists, practitioners, and a very insightful discussion with the wonderful Costa Georgiadis. Many of the podcasts have now been released, with more to come... so watch this space, and subscribe to them if you can so you don't miss any episodes! Follow this link to find all the podcasts on Spotify, or go to your favourite podcast app and search for "Citizen Science Show". So far you can hear from: Michelle Neil - ACSA Costa Georgiadis - Landscape Architect and TV Presenter Clare Hawkins - Bookend Trust, NatureTrackers and University of Tasmania Alex Chapman - ACSA WA,…
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Citizen Science: Theory and Practice – Call for abstracts for a special collection

Citizen Science: Theory and Practice – Call for abstracts for a special collection

Communication & promotion, Showcasing science outcomes, Social research in CS
The open-access, peer-reviewed journal Citizen Science: Theory and Practice is seeking a range of papers including research papers, review and synthesis papers, case studies, and essays for their special collection AI and the Future of Citizen Science. Abstracts should be submitted by September 8, 2023 Visit the CSA announcement for more details about the special collection and how to submit your abstracts.
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Citizen Science in QLD Schools 

Citizen Science in QLD Schools 

Blogs, Communication & promotion, Education, Engaging citizens
In June our social media moderator, scientist, keen citizen scientist and #CitSciOz23 Conference co-convener, Michelle Neil was invited to present to over 150 Queensland primary and secondary school students and their teachers at the 2023 Sustainability and Science Schools Showcase hosted by Queensland’s Office of the Chief Scientist at Queensland Museum’s The Edge.   How do you galvanise the next generation of citizen scientists into action? How do you explain citizen science in fewer than 7 slides and under 3 minutes?  Introducing the tools of citizen science  Have you seen our citizen scientists’ t-shirts? The pictures represent the tools of a citizen scientist. You might use one tool for your project or all of them – there really is no limit.  The tools include; a computer mouse and mobile phone to…
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Citizen science – there’s something for everyone, everywhere

Citizen science – there’s something for everyone, everywhere

Blogs, Communication & promotion, Education, Engaging citizens, Meetings and Events
ACSA-WA member Dr Tegan Douglas was thrilled to be able to present to the Lesmurdie branch of the University of the Third Age (U3A) earlier this month. True to the Noongar season of Makuru, the weather was cold and blustery, but not even hail was enough to stop this group of curious minds and life-long learners from gathering at Falls Farm in Lesmurdie to hear about how easy it is to get involved with citizen science. Photo courtesy of Heidi Pember Tegan introduced the group to ACSA, demonstrated how citizen science worked, and the benefits that science and society can get from it. Using her background in bird conservation, she drew examples of how the power of citizen science can track population trends in native and introduced bird species, and…
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Read about ACSA Community Achievements via our Annual Report for 2021-2022

Read about ACSA Community Achievements via our Annual Report for 2021-2022

ACSA development, Collaboration & partnerships, Communication & promotion, Conferences, Engaging citizens, Meetings and Events
The Australian Citizen Science Association community had diverse achievements throughout the 2021-2022 financial year, and we are delighted to share an overview of them in our ACSA Annual Report! You can read about our efforts to support our community and broaden the reach of citizen science at local, national, and international levels. Check out the suite of incredible activities our state- and territory-based Regional Chapters have been delving into. Reminisce about the inspiring online national citizen science conference - #CitSciOz21. Learn how our burgeoning consulting endeavours and broader partnerships are continuing to grow. It is evident that we have an incredible community doing a wide variety of remarkable things that empower people with science! We hope our members enjoy perusing the report! If you have feedback or questions after reading…
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Free webinar: How to use drones to monitor ecosystems

Free webinar: How to use drones to monitor ecosystems

Collaboration & partnerships, Communication & promotion, Data management, Meetings and Events
When: Monday July 18, 2022 | 7:30 - 8:25pm AEST Online event: Zoom link will be delivered upon registering for this event Hosted by: GeoNadir & ACSA As you already know, our precious ecosystems are under threat. Fortunately, technology is advancing to the point where citizen scientists like us can contributeto real solutions. One of those solutions involves using drones to capture imagery of our local ecosystems. Through the use of drones and the associated technology, we can contribute to solving thechallenging global problems we are all facing. We have partnered up with Technical Lead and Co-Founder of GeoNadir, Dr Karen Joyce. Shewill be presenting a webinar all about how to use drones to monitor ecosystems. Dr Joyce is a scientist, academic, and educator. During her time as Senior Lecturer…
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2021 Seed Grant – MYOCOmmunity Applied Mycology Progress Report

2021 Seed Grant – MYOCOmmunity Applied Mycology Progress Report

Communication & promotion, CS Project, Grants
By Ema Corro, winner of a 2021 ACSA Seed Grant Our project aims to use citizen science to rapidly increase knowledge of fungal taxonomy and ecology. As part of this we have been training volunteers to record sightings of fungi using iNaturalist, to take and describe herbarium specimens and do microscopy and DNA work on fungi. The equipment we bought with the ACSA grant has allowed us to show volunteers how to extract DNA from mushrooms and environmental samples for sequencing and tests for environmental DNA. For the next stages of our project we are planning to study the effects of storm damage on soil fungi and do some pilot runs sequencing environmental DNA in animal scats. We are also developing tests to look for invasive as well as endangered species of…
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