Citizen Science Show

What does it actually take to save a whale? Not the twenty-second clip you see on the news — the full story, from the Sunday afternoon phone call through to the night run home in the dark, 22 kilometres south of where you started.In this episode of the Citizen Science Show, host Sarah Han-de-Beaux sits down with Adam and Amelie from Forster Dive Centre on the NSW mid coast — a couple who have turned their dive shop into a community conservation hub, and who spend their days off responding to marine rescues, removing hooks from Grey Nurse Sharks, and teaching people that the ocean is worth protecting because they finally understand what's in it.Amelie brings a marine biology background and a gift for translating science into something anyone can feel. Adam brings deep local knowledge, a boat, and a willingness to spend seven and a half hours on the water on Father's Day.Together they share the full behind-the-scenes stories of:🐋 The entangled humpback whale whose pod tail-slapped to show them where the line was and who breached at sunset after she was freed🐋 The juvenile humpback stranded in the Wallis Lake system in just 60cm of water, which made the New York Times and needed two separate rescue operations over three days🦈 Ten Grey Nurse Sharks rescued from fishing hooks over a single weekend🤿 The 'Diving with Challenges' program and the diver who taught them that underwater, there is only one languagePlus: their top three tips for citizen scientists, their hopes for their kids' ocean, and the local motto that says it all. There's no hurry in Tuncurry.🐬 To report a marine animal in distress: contact ORRCA (Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans in Australia)🦈 To contribute to shark citizen science: Spot-A-Shark🤿 To dive with Adam and Amelie: Forster Dive Centre, NSW mid coastMore Informationhttps://www.orrca.org.au/https://seaworldfoundation.com.au/https://spotashark.com/https://ladyelliot.com.au/sustainability/project-manta/https://www.forsterdivecentre.com.au/If you enjoy this podcast, please like and subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts.Leave us a review and share this show with your friends.It really helps us to reach more citizen scientists, like you.Contact the ShowWe are always looking for more guests to tell us about interesting citizen science projects, research and events.You can email us at: info@citizenscienceshow.com

He was practically born in a nest. At just 22 years old, Ziggy Gow-Webb has spent his entire life surrounded by birds of prey at Raptor Refuge in Kettering, Tasmania — the facility his father, Craig Webb, built from the ground up over 26 years.In this special short episode of the Citizen Science Show, host Dani Lloyd-Prichard sits down with Ziggy to hear his story: what it's like to grow up among eagles and owls, how raptors develop individual personalities, and what it feels like when a wild bird finally decides to trust you.Ziggy also opens up about the refuge's 30–40% rehabilitation success rate, the reality of loss in wildlife care, and how every setback only strengthens his drive to return more birds to the wild.And as a bonus, Ziggy reveals he's been living a double life. After just three months of posting social media videos about his daily work with raptors, he was approached to appear on The Floor Australia (Channel 9), a high-pressure game show where his expert category was nocturnal animals. Did he make it to the grand final? You'll have to tune in to find out.This episode pairs beautifully with Episode #170, featuring Craig Webbn, the father behind the refuge, and together they tell a remarkable story of a family devoted to protecting Tasmania's most powerful birds.🦅 To support Raptor Refuge: become a member or book a private tour at raptorrefuge.com.au📞 Report a dead or injured raptor anywhere in Tasmania: 1800 RAPTOR📱 Follow Ziggy's raptor videos on social media and keep an eye out for him on The Floor Australia, Channel 9.More Informationhttps://raptorrefuge.com.au/https://www.facebook.com/raptorrefugehttps://www.youtube.com/c/RaptorRefugehttps://www.instagram.com/raptor_refuge/If you enjoy this podcast, please like and subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts.Leave us a review and share this show with your friends.It really helps us to reach more citizen scientists, like you.Contact the ShowWe are always looking for more guests to tell us about interesting citizen science projects, research and events.You can email us at: info@citizenscienceshow.com

They cool our streets, shelter our wildlife, boost our property values, and quietly keep us sane. So why are we cutting them down for $500?Dr. Greg Moore has spent nearly six decades championing urban trees — as a researcher, as principal of Melbourne's Burnley College, and as one of Australia's most respected voices in arboriculture. In this episode, he makes the case that trees aren't a nice-to-have. They are essential infrastructure. And we are losing them at a rate we will deeply regret.From the 3-30-300 rule to love letters written to Melbourne street trees, from cockatoo citizen science to the surprising power of a significant trees register with zero legal force — Greg covers it all with the calm authority of someone who has been right about this for a very long time.Plus: a simple way to measure your neighbourhood's canopy cover using nothing but your eyes and a clear day at noon.Because the trees around you are worth far more than you think. And so is your voice in protecting them.More Informationhttps://treenet.org/https://www.trees.org.au/https://www.isa-arbor.com/If you enjoy this podcast, please like and subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts.Leave us a review and share this show with your friends.It really helps us to reach more citizen scientists, like you.Contact the ShowWe are always looking for more guests to tell us about interesting citizen science projects, research and events.You can email us at: info@citizenscienceshow.com

A two-week holiday. A chance dive. A career that would take her from the reefs of Thailand to the laboratories of Sydney — and back underwater again.Dr. Jen Matthews is a coral scientist on a mission: to understand, feed, and defend reef ecosystems at a time when they need it most. In this episode, she takes us from the unexpected coral frontier emerging in Sydney Harbour, to the Great Barrier Reef where her team is raising baby corals in children's paddling pools, to the cutting edge of reef health science — which, it turns out, involves sniffing coral flatulence.We also explore how you can contribute, whether you're a seasoned diver or someone who's never left the shallows.Because the future of our reefs isn't just in the hands of scientists. It's in yours too.More Information https://sydneycoralproject.com/https://www.uts.edu.au/research/centres/climate-change-cluster/our-research/future-reefsIf you enjoy this podcast, please like and subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts.Leave us a review and share this show with your friends.It really helps us to reach more citizen scientists, like you.Contact the ShowWe are always looking for more guests to tell us about interesting citizen science projects, research and events.You can email us at: info@citizenscienceshow.com

For more than three decades, Graeme Sawyer has been one of the Northern Territory’s most recognisable voices in citizen science and environmental education.A former Lord Mayor of Darwin and founder of Frogwatch NT, Graeme has spent much of his life connecting people — especially children — with the wildlife of the Top End. But alongside the wonder of frogs, wetlands and night walks has come another story: the slow devastation caused by invasive cane toads.Building Frogwatch Through Citizen ScienceGraeme’s path into frog conservation began while developing one of Australia’s earliest multimedia wildlife databases alongside colleague Ian Morris.The project was initially designed for schools and Indigenous communities, helping children identify native animals through photographs and recordings. What emerged was something much larger.“We didn’t know much about frogs or their distribution or anything else in the NT at that point in time,” Graeme said.Frogwatch NT soon evolved into a community-driven citizen science initiative aimed at documenting frog populations and monitoring the spread of chytrid fungus, a deadly amphibian disease threatening frogs globally.The program quickly demonstrated the power of community observation.One evening, university student Jeanne Young arrived at a Frogwatch session carrying a recording of an unidentified frog call. Days later, the group tracked the sound to the Howard River floodplains and discovered what would become the Howard River Toadlet (Uperoleia daviesae), a species previously unknown to science.For Graeme, the discovery reinforced the importance of public participation in environmental research.“It showed me again the value of citizen science — getting the eyes and ears of people tuned into their local environments,” he said.More Informationhttps://watergum.org/tadpoletrapping/https://biodiversitywatch.org.au/?action=main.default&mobile=falsehttps://www.facebook.com/frogwatch.nthaustraliaIf you enjoy this podcast, please like and subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts.Leave us a review and share this show with your friends.It really helps us to reach more citizen scientists, like you.Contact the ShowWe are always looking for more guests to tell us about interesting citizen science projects, research and events.You can email us at: info@citizenscienceshow.com

At just fifteen years old, Spencer Hitchen has become one of Australia’s most recognisable young conservation voices — not through political slogans or social media trends, but through patient observation, powerful photography, and an unwavering commitment to protecting nature.From the Wallum woodlands of Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Spencer has transformed a childhood fascination with glossy black cockatoos into a global conservation movement. Along the way, he has launched World Stand Up For Nature Day, contributed to campaigns influencing environmental protections, produced award-winning wildlife photography, and inspired thousands of young people to reconnect with the natural world.But for Spencer, the journey began with a single bird.Falling in Love with the GlossiesSpencer was only six years old when he first joined a local environment group and met a conservationist known as “Glossy Bob”, who had spent more than two decades observing glossy black cockatoos in the Noosa region.Together, they would visit a local waterhole where the cockatoos gathered each evening.Spencer quickly became captivated by the birds — their calls, their behaviours, and the fragile ecosystem that sustained them.“I just fell in love with them,” Spencer said.More Informationhttps://www.instagram.com/savesunriseglossies/https://www.savesunriseglossies.com.au/https://www.facebook.com/savesunriseglossiesIf you enjoy this podcast, please like and subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts.Leave us a review and share this show with your friends.It really helps us to reach more citizen scientists, like you.Contact the ShowWe are always looking for more guests to tell us about interesting citizen science projects, research and events.You can email us at: info@citizenscienceshow.com

Scientists map the ocean’s most critical shark and ray habitats in a race against extinctionMarine conservationists around the world are racing to identify the ocean habitats most critical to the survival of sharks and rays before it is too late.At the centre of that effort is the Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project, a global initiative led through the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Shark Specialist Group. The project aims to pinpoint the breeding grounds, feeding hotspots and migration corridors essential to sustaining shark, ray and chimaera populations worldwide.For Dr Rima Jabado, chair of the IUCN Species Survival Commission Shark Specialist Group, the project represents a major shift in marine conservation thinking.“It’s not just about protecting the species anymore,” Rima said. “It’s about identifying the places in the ocean that are most important for those species to survive.”Joining Rima on the Citizen Science Show podcast was marine scientist Dr Asia Armstrong, whose work in spatial ecology and threatened species conservation has made her a key contributor to the project.Together, the pair described an ambitious global effort built not only on science, but also on the observations of ordinary ocean users.More Informationhttps://sharkrayareas.org/If you enjoy this podcast, please like and subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts.Leave us a review and share this show with your friends.It really helps us to reach more citizen scientists, like you.Contact the ShowWe are always looking for more guests to tell us about interesting citizen science projects, research and events.You can email us at: info@citizenscienceshow.com

A pioneering team blends science, technology and community action to protect one of the world’s most threatened animal groups—amid growing pressure from development.In the forests of New South Wales, a quiet crisis is unfolding—one that scientists say is pushing some of Australia’s most unique frog species to the brink. At the centre of the response is a team of researchers working across laboratories, wetlands and digital platforms, united under an initiative known as the Amphibian ICU.Led by Dr Kaya Klop-Toker, Dr Rose Upton and Dr Alex Callen, the Integrated Conservation Unit is taking an ambitious, multi-disciplinary approach to halt amphibian decline—combining ecological restoration, reproductive science and citizen engagement in what they describe as a “One Plan” strategy for species recovery.More Informationhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/312367045929495/https://www.facebook.com/AussieArkhttps://www.wildlifesydney.com.au/Email the Ministerhttps://protectljtf.good.do/protectthelittlejohnstreefrog/email-the-minister/Littlejohn's Tree Frog Photo Credit: Krishna Pavan KomanduriIf you enjoy this podcast, please like and subscribe to our show wherever you get your podcasts.Leave us a review and share this show with your friends.It really helps us to reach more citizen scientists, like you.Contact the ShowWe are always looking for more guests to tell us about interesting citizen science projects, research and events.You can email us at: info@citizenscienceshow.com