22Feb 2022 by Amy Slocombe No Comments
Threatened Species Action Plan launched

Threatened Species Action Plan launched

Communication & promotion
On 17 February 2022, Australia's Threatened Species Commissioner Dr Fiona Fraser shared the news that the first five-year Action Plan underpinning the Threatened Species Strategy 2021-2031 is now underway. The Action Plan sets practical actions and targets to focus efforts on improving the trajectories of 100 priority species (announced in October 2021), the condition of priority places and identifies other fundamental threatened species recovery actions to be progressed from now to 2026. We are pleased to see the inclusion of both ACSA and citizen science in the Action Plan, following our submission to the consultation paper in July 2021. Citizen science is recognised in Action Area 8 and Target 16, details of which can be found on pages 28 and 29 of the Action Plan, which have also been copied…
Read More
10Feb 2022 by Amy Slocombe No Comments

CitSciOz21: reflections & summaries

Blogs, Communication & promotion, Conferences, Meetings and Events
By Luise Manning Luise was the recipient of one of ACSA’s complimentary conference regsiterations, available to those people who did not have organisational support to attend CitSciOz21 Due to the Covid 19 Pandemic, the 3rd ACSA Conference, which was planned to be held on the Gold Coast last year, went from a face-to-face conference to an on-line event. The induction videos on how to use the platform were useful to test your equipment before attending the conference. This was my first ACSA conference and I was quite impressed by the ease of registering and the easy-to-understand home page containing the timetable of events for each day. It was very professionally done and provided a wide variety of topics and content.  The benefits of the on-line conference meant that even if two…
Read More
03Feb 2022 by Amy Slocombe No Comments
2022 NATIONAL LANDCARE CONFERENCE

2022 NATIONAL LANDCARE CONFERENCE

Collaboration & partnerships, Communication & promotion, Conferences
Call for Abstracts OPEN NOW Landcare Australia is calling for the submission of abstracts and posters for the 2022 National Landcare Conference. The bi-annual event will be held from Tuesday 23 to Thursday 25 August 2022, at the International Convention Centre Darling Harbour in Sydney. The theme for the 2022 National Landcare Conference is Power of Landcare | Shaping Our Future which affirms the importance of looking to the future when addressing the issues and opportunities open to Landcare. Presenters are asked to explore how their submission ties in with the 2022 theme. Landcare Australia invites abstracts from individuals, groups, networks and organisations involved in protecting, enhancing or restoring and educating about the natural environment in their local community through sustainable land management and conservation activities. They are also seeking poster exhibits…
Read More
10Dec 2021 by Amy Slocombe No Comments
CitSciOz21 – Not Just for the Birds

CitSciOz21 – Not Just for the Birds

Communication & promotion, Conferences
By Kelly Ophel Kelly was the recipient of one of ACSA's complimentary conference regsiterations, available to those people who did not have organisational support to attend CitSciOz21. Birds. I’ve got to be honest, they’re what gets me up in the morning. And I don’t just mean, ‘Oh, those noisy Kookas are at it again!’ I mean they’re my reason for being excited about life. Birds are what got me interested in science in the first place and my desire to get other people excited about birds is what brought me to Citizen Science. I’m not good at conferences. I have a history of fan-girling presenters and asking them to autograph copies of textbooks they have written. I meet people and get so excited about the most recent presentation that I…
Read More
09Dec 2021 by Amy Slocombe No Comments
ForestEye Pilot went LIVE in the Bega Shire Valley!

ForestEye Pilot went LIVE in the Bega Shire Valley!

Collaboration & partnerships, Communication & promotion, Engaging citizens, Field-based citizen science
By Geetha Ortac A few months ago, ACSA announced its partnership with the Natural Resources Commission of NSW (NRC, lead partner) and the Atlas of Life to deliver a new and exciting forest monitoring citizen science project named ForestEye. This project was due to be piloted in October, however Covid-19 restrictions meant a 2 month delay. We are now happy to report ForestEye finally kicked-off on 1 Dec 2021 in the beautiful Bega Shire Valley! Nine enthusiastic citizen scientists from nearby local areas joined us for two days of training and fieldwork participating in the set-up of remote sensor cameras and two different types of devices that enabled acoustic recording and monitoring of bats and other wildlife. As ForestEye’s vision is to support long-term forest monitoring across New South Wales, a pilot such…
Read More
09Dec 2021 by Amy Slocombe No Comments
The Big Bushfire Bioblitz!

The Big Bushfire Bioblitz!

Collaboration & partnerships, Communication & promotion, Engaging citizens, Field-based citizen science, Meetings and Events
Grab your hat, your camera, and your moth sheet, and get ready for the Big Bushfire BioBlitz! The University of New South Wales’ Centre for Ecosystem Science, the Atlas of Living Australia, the Australian Citizen Science Association, Minderoo’s Fire and Flood Resilience Initiative, and the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment are joining forces to run three bioblitzes across NSW in early 2022 to help track how our native ecosystems are recovering from the 2019-2020 bushfire season. Join us in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area (Blue Mountains), Rainforests of the NSW north coast and tablelands (Washpool National Park), and Forests of the NSW south coast (Murramarang National Park) as we search for bugs, bats, birds and everything in between. We’re putting together an exciting line-up of experts…
Read More
09Dec 2021 by Amy Slocombe No Comments
New article in The Conversation

New article in The Conversation

Communication & promotion, Engaging citizens
ACSA's former Chair Erin Roger Host Representative Alice Motion have just had their article published in The Conversation and it is well worth a read: https://theconversation.com/nature-is-hiding-in-every-nook-of-australias-cities-just-look-a-little-closer-and-youll-find-it-168256 This article was written to accompany the publication of Erin and Alice's open access journal article "Citizen science in cities: an overview of projects focused on urban Australia". You can download that article here.
Read More
07Dec 2021 by Amy Slocombe No Comments
Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources Eureka Prize for Innovation in Citizen Science 

Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources Eureka Prize for Innovation in Citizen Science 

Communication & promotion, Meetings and Events, Showcasing science outcomes
A huge congratulations to AUSMAP,  Total Environment Centre and Macquarie University, for taking out the 2021 Eureka Prize for Innovation in Citizen Science! The Australian Microplastic Assessment Project (AUSMAP) is a world-first, national citizen science program that empowers people of all ages to document microplastic pollution. An immersive experience, participants are educated on the prevalence of microplastics around our waterways and trained to collect scientifically valid data that is used to design effective mitigation strategies for plastic pollution. Learn more
Read More
07Dec 2021 by Amy Slocombe No Comments

SA Citizen Science Awards

Communication & promotion, Meetings and Events
The inaugural South Australian Citizen Science Awards were presented at the 2021 Tall Poppy and Unsung Hero of Science Award ceremony in November. The winners and finalists were also featured at the 2021 SA Science Excellence and Innovation Awards where short videos of each of the finalist projects were shown. It was great to see citizen science recognised along with South Australia’s scientific achievements. Congratulations to: Science and Research Award: Echidna CSI (winner) and Bryophyte Collection Transcription Project (finalist) Engagement Award: Kangaroo Island/ Victor Harbor Dolphin Watch (winner) and iBandi (finalist). To learn more about these fantastic projects watch the videos here: Echidna CSI video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWEhYYJ1ggMKangaroo Island/ Victor Harbor Dolphin Watch video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOtqQe7RRvkSA Bryophyte collection transcription project https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQL5uwaCi0wiBandi video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCuiimNSvAA The SA Citizen Science Awards finalists
Read More
02Dec 2021 by Amy Slocombe No Comments

ACSA Seed Grant Winners

Communication & promotion, Grants
We are very excited to announce the winners of ACSA's 2021 Seed Grants; MYCOmmunity Applied Mycology and 2 Bent Rods! Each will be provided with $1000 to assist the growth and development of their citizen science projects. MYCOmmunity Applied MycologyEma CorroMYCOmmunity Applied Mycology will use the money to train volunteers in taking herbarium specimens of fungi and in the use of basic laboratory equipment and techniques related to environmental DNA and DNA sequencing.  The Wild Fungi DNA Project is a very exciting initiative and has the potential to have a big impact and greatly enhance our knowledge of the distribution of Australian fungi. With only 5% of the estimated 250,000 species of Australian fungi being described, and the infrequent sightings and recording of fungi fruiting bodies, the use of eDNA…
Read More