Congratulations to 2017 Citizen Science Award recipients
Two very different events were held in National Science Week to showcase citizen science achievements in our region. Thank you to everyone who attended, I hope you enjoyed them. The Scinema Movie Night at Strathalbyn was a really fun evening. Attendees enjoyed the diverse range of short films and we thank Peter Koch for sharing his amazing photographs with us in his presentation at the event. I think the popcorn was a hit too.
The Science on a Sunday event at the McCormick Centre for the Environment in Renmark included presentations about Riverland microbats, community monitoring of malleefowl by the North Calperum Volunteer Group, and the Bookmark Creek Group updated us on their restoration efforts. Thank you to Dave Wells, Teresa ter Bogt, Kathy Hazelwood and Matt Humphrey for speaking at the event. We also had virtual reality goggles on show for people to try and other hands-on activities for the kids. Thank you also to Bec Stevens, for all her contributions to this event and to the citizen science program over the last year.
At these events we were very pleased to award the 2017 Citizen Science Awards for Outstanding Achievement.
Lower Murray award recipient Peter Koch: For his bird monitoring and other work at Tolderol Game Reserve. Since the environmental watering began again at Tolderol in 2014, Peter has been providing assistance with monthly bird monitoring surveys and sharing his valuable bird identification skills with both community and Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources (DEWNR) staff alike.
Peter provides regular updates on bird species at the reserve and sends through fantastic images of his sightings which are shared with the wider community through the Tolderol mailing list and also the Tolderol Game Reserve Wetlands Facebook Community Page.
Peter has also assisted with the compilation of historical bird records for Tolderol – which now boasts a species list of 153 birds. Thank you for sharing your expertise with us Peter!
Upper Murray award recipient Jenny Winn: For her bird monitoring efforts, individually and with the Riverland Friends of Parks. Jenny has been involved with the Natural Resources SA Murray-Darling Basin citizen science program since 2014 when she joined us at our very first workshop in the Riverland. Since then she has regularly attended our bird field surveys.
Over the past three years Jenny has submitted over 510 bird records onto the online bird data portal with many of them consisting of waterbird species. Jenny is also a member of the Friends of Riverland Parks group and regularly conducts their monthly waterbird surveys. Jenny’s efforts and records helps us to get a much better handle of what’s happening with birds and the environment in our region. The records will become part of the state biological database and the national Atlas of Living Australia.
Thank you for your amazing contribution Jenny! We’ll be collecting your thoughts in the run up to next year’s Science Week events to help us plan something of interest to as many people as possible.
|
