The journey of more than 1200 nautical miles was marked by unpredictable winds, lightning storms, squalls of more than 30 knots and long hours of calm. There was a dramatic knockdown and close encounters with other vessels.

“On this trip the weather and seas threw every element at me, and because it was a short window I have hardly slept and really pushed my settings the whole way,” says Lisa. “The boat has performed superbly but I’m pretty exhausted.”

Lisa’s campaign is to “Cross the Ditch for Climate Action Now.” She’s raising awareness of ocean pollution and advocating for everyone to make a change for the health of the ocean.

She began the campaign during her most recent round-the-world voyage which she completed on 25 May 2022 when she became the fastest person to sail solo, non-stop and unassisted around Antarctica. Lisa seized the opportunity to amplify her message of climate action now (the name of her yacht) by collaborating with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Institute of Marine Science and Seabed 2030 to gather weather data and collect water samples for evidence of microplastics and to monitor general ocean health.

Society-sponsored Lisa hopes to raise awareness of ocean threats as she heads off on her next voyage. In the coming days, she will embark on a new campaign; a voyage from Auckland to Auckland right around the coastline of New Zealand. She hopes to become the first person to complete the trip, solo, non-stop and unassisted, a journey she anticipates will take 15 to 18 days to complete.

Following the New Zealand projects, Lisa has plans for an Arctic world record. A feature film about her Antarctic voyage, Ice Maiden, will have its world premiere at the Dock Edge Film Festival in New Zealand in June 2024.

You can follow Lisa’s progress on her live tracker.

Setting the record

• 2017 – First woman to sail solo around Antarctica with one stop, below 45 South
• 2017 – Australian Geographic Spirit of Adventure awardee
• 2017 – Seamanship Award
• 2018 – 2x World Records while sailing solo, non-stop and unassisted around Australia
• 2022 – 2x World Records while sailing solo, non-stop and unassisted around Antarctica
• 2022 – Australian Geographic Adventurer of the Year

Related: World beater: Aussie solo sailor Lisa Blair shares her story

The post World-beater solo yachtswoman Lisa Blair racks up two big sailing records while taking her climate message across the ditch appeared first on Australian Geographic.

Each partner will become the beneficiary of all funds contributed through this program for a period of one year. In this way we hope to create real impact and measurable conservation outcomes for the vital funds that you – our readers and supporters – so generously donate to us. All of these drives will highlight the plight of a new species with every new edition of your AUSTRALIAN GEOGRAPHIC magazine.

Our first partner is Australian Wildlife Conservancy (AWC), a national operation that’s a global leader in conservation with its science-informed land-management partnership model. Through a large and growing network of sanctuaries located across the continent, AWC aims to protect species and the ecosystems they depend on. The organisation engages in fire management, feral-animal control, weed eradication and translocations of threatened species into fenced, feral-free sanctuaries.

AWC doesn’t just seek to protect existing biodiversity, but to improve it, and has grown to become Australia’s largest non-government conservation organisation. During the coming year, the AGS will identify six native species on which to focus our fundraising activities and direct those funds towards AWC’s conservation efforts.

Because we are close to Easter, we kick off the new program with the gorgeous greater bilby.

We’re grateful for your ongoing generous support of our fundraisers, and will continue to ensure the money is used to the greatest effect to help our precious wildlife.

Related: Rescuing an emblem

The post ‘Australia’s Most Endangered’: Introducing Australian Geographic Society’s new fundraisers appeared first on Australian Geographic.

SYDNEY *sold out*

Solo Across the Pacific – Dr Richard Barnes, the first person to kayak solo, unassisted and non-stop across the Tasman Sea, and the “naked rower”, Tom Robinson, live on stage.

Tuesday 6 February

Click here for more details and tickets

Missed this event? Watch our recording of the evening.

LAUNCESTON, TAS

Achieving the Almost-Impossible – 2023 Young Adventurer of the Year Lewi Taylor and 2018 Spirit of Adventure winner Paul Pritchard, live on stage.

Thursday 22 February

Click here for more details and tickets

MELBOURNE

Pushing the Boundaries – world-record holding extreme sport athletes Heather Swan and Glenn Singleman and ultra-endurance cyclist Dr Kate Leeming OAM, live on stage.

Wednesday 28 February

Click here for more details and tickets

Related: Meet the 2023 Australian Geographic Society Award winners

The post Australian Geographic Society Awards Roadshow appeared first on Australian Geographic.

This change forms part of our move to an all-profits donated business model and subsequent reform of how we conduct our approach to funding Australia’s environmental crises.

We will announce the changes in the January-February 2024 issue of the Australian Geographic magazine (AG 178). Please look out for full details there.

It marks an exciting new chapter for Australian Geographic and one in which we aspire to have a greater impact.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and appreciate your interest in the Australian Geographic Society.

Please forward any enquiries to society@ausgeo.com.au

The post Sponsorship news appeared first on Australian Geographic.

Wild squirrel glider populations have been found in Aussie Ark’s Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary and the Mongo Valley Wildlife Sanctuary and the Australian Geographic-supported nest boxes will encourage population growth at these enclaves.

They will serve as intermediate shelter and breeding habitat until the food-source trees planted in both of the sanctuaries mature.

Aussie Ark has also celebrated the birth of its first captive-bred squirrel glider. New parents, Gamora and Starlord, welcomed a female joey called Hope.

Initial health checks were conducted in December last year and revealed a healthy joey, weighing 63g. Hope progressed well, weighing 173g at her subsequent check last January.

Related: Australia’s marsupial gliders: guide

The post Brighter future for squirrel gliders appeared first on Australian Geographic.

The perils of his epic journey began long before Tom boarded his rowing boat Maiwar on 9 July last year. He faced bureaucratic barriers, unexpected costs from Peruvian border authorities and unscrupulous shipping agents as he attempted to bring his boat into the country. He was even robbed at knifepoint in downtown Lima. Despite those setbacks, he received lots of moral support and practical assistance from members of the Peruvian Yacht Club in Callao which acted as base camp while he prepared his boat for the long journey across the planet’s greatest expanse of open ocean.

Maiwar is a wooden clinker-built 7m-long rowing boat that Tom designed and constructed himself. Despite his young age, he’s a qualified, wooden boat builder and had already completed two coastal rowing expeditions along the Queensland coast while still at school.

From the age of 12 Tom lived in a house on the banks of the Brisbane River in Queensland where his father built him a little plywood boat for messing about in the river. Rowing became not just a hobby, but an obsession as Tom rowed to and from school each day and played around on the river in every spare moment. At age 14 he rowed 130km solo from Brisbane to the Gold Coast, spending five days living in a 13-foot dinghy that he and his father modified for the journey. It was around that time that Tom decided he was going to be the youngest person ever to row across the Pacific Ocean, an ambition he’s held tightly to for the past eight years.

After completing his year 12 certificate he moved to Sydney aged seventeen to pursue a boatbuilding career. He spent the first year of his apprenticeship there, taking full advantage of the city’s world class sailing and boatbuilding heritage. Tom moved back to Brisbane to focus on wooden boat restoration. For the remaining three years of his apprenticeship, he worked full time restoring his own boats, competing in offshore yacht races and travelling overseas. He also became proficient in traditional celestial navigation.

During the years of the COVID-19 pandemic, while some of his sailing plans were scuppered, Tom set about building the craft that would take him across the Pacific. Why did he choose a wooden boat for such a potentially perilous undertaking?

“There are many reasons,” says Tom. “The biggest being that this is going to be my home for months on end, so it has to be nice, homely and comfortable. There was no way that I was going to spend six months in a plastic or carbon fibre ugly thing like that. And timber, as a material, is beautiful, it’s sustainable, it’s good for the planet. Especially the timber I used, which was Queensland-grown plantation hoop pine, so, it’s a more sustainable option. It feels better, it’s nicer, -in every respect, it’s just better. People may argue you need a carbon fibre boat because it’s lighter and therefore goes faster, but by the time you’ve got enough food and water for six months, the weight of the actual boat itself only makes up a small percentage of the overall weight. So, if I’d gone carbon fibre, maybe I would’ve saved five per cent, but what does that equate to out here? Maybe a few extra days at sea, so it’s not really the right way to think about it. And so, for me, wooden boats are the best.”

Tom’s boat Maiwar has proved herself more than worthy of the task so far. The first leg of Tom’s trans-Pacific rowing attempt came to a successful and safe conclusion when he arrived at idyllic Penryn Island in the northern Cook Island group just before Christmas. The first leg of the journey took longer than anticipated.

“I was at sea for 160 days. I originally planned to make landfall in The Marquesas, which is east of here, but I was blown off course. And so, almost overnight, the journey changed from what was going to be a 100-day first leg into what became a 160-day leg. Penrhyn Island where I am now was next after the Marquesas. And so, it turned into a big, long, arduous, painful, hard journey. But it was pretty spectacular too sometimes,” says Tom.

“I packed food for 150 days just in case, because I thought that there’s a very slim chance that this could happen, and it did. I caught a lot of fish too. I left South America with about 350 litres of water, and I also had a desalination pump that turns saltwater into fresh. I was rationing to two litres a day, which was really challenging. By the end of the journey, it was so hot that I just couldn’t manage on just two litres a day, so I had to pump for about half an hour each day to get more fresh water to drink.”

Tom encountered rough seas soon after leaving Peru. “I think on day five or six, it was pretty rough. At that point, the boat was heavy because there was five months’ worth of food aboard and so, she wasn’t really riding the waves as I would’ve liked. That was pretty scary. You wedge yourself inside the cabin and the boat’s rocking around and waves are crashing everywhere. Yeah, that’s pretty full on,” says Tom.

Around day 65, the wind was blowing around 25 knots, -nothing too unusual, when out of nowhere, Tom turned and saw a huge wave coming towards him. There was nothing he could do but let go of the oars and hold onto the side of the boat. “I just held on for dear life and this huge wave just broke over the boat. Thankfully, I managed to stay on board and the boat didn’t capsize, which was really lucky, it came close. It was really frightening because it came out of nowhere and it was very unexpected. So, I lost my nerve there for a little while though.”

Tom was able to stay in touch with home via his satellite phone and he occasionally encountered other vessels on the high seas including the jumbo squid fishing fleet off Ecuador.

“The most notable ships I saw were when I was south of the Galapagos Islands, -a few hundred miles south-, and I passed north of the squid fishing fleet. There are hundreds of squid fishing boats out there. And so, at night, the whole horizon was aglow. And it was really strange for me because I didn’t know what it was, this sort of huge, bright, massive light on the horizon.”

On day 49 a big tuna fishing ship spotted Tom. They lowered a speedboat and two Ecuadorian fishermen sped over to Maiwar, but they didn’t speak English and Tom’s Spanish wasn’t too good either. “But I rubbed my belly to say I was hungry, so they came back with all this food. There was tuna, but the rest of the food wasn’t great. I got strawberry jam, I got Powerade, I got cigarettes, I got all these things I didn’t need. That was really funny,” he says.

Apart from those rare human encounters, Tom was alone for five months. “I find solitude leads to real contentment. I don’t miss anything at home, or even civilisation itself. I find I’m completely at peace when I am alone at sea,” he says.

Tom has already completed arguably the most perilous sector of his grand adventure having completed a 5000 nautical mile non-stop traverse of the most remote stretch of the Pacific Ocean. The next stage will see him island hop through Oceania before making a final ocean crossing back to Australia in late 2023.

How does Tom see the next few months unfolding?

“I’m really at the mercy of the wind and the currents when I’m at sea so I’m never nearly exactly sure where I’m going to end up or which island I’m going to get to. But I do think that eventually I’ll end up back in Australia somewhere. And between here and Australia, there’s lots of islands. In the first half of the Pacific I just crossed, there’s nothing. But from here on in there’s heap of islands. And so, I’m hoping to stop, have fun, meet people and explore and experience new cultures. The first half was hard and the second half’s also going to be hard, but more interesting.”

Quick stats and facts:

• Tom Robinson is 23 years old

• Distance Tom will row: 8000 nautical miles (14816 kilometres)

• He will become the youngest person to row across the Pacific Ocean

• The current record is held by Briton Sylvia Cook who did it with her partner John Fairfax in 1972 when she was 32 years old

• Only twelve people have rowed solo across the Pacific Ocean, only four have departed from South America

• His boat is called Maiwar, an Indigenous word for the Brisbane River where Tom spent his youth

• Maiwar is only 24 feet long (7.31 metres)

• Maiwar took five months to build

• Maiwar has a cabin with a single bunk, a galley and a navigation station

• Maiwar is self-righting, should she capsize

You can follow Tom’s adventure via his website and you can also help Tom achieve his ambitious goal with a cash donation through his GoFundMe portal also accessible from his website homepage.

The Australian Geographic Society is one of Tom’s sponsors and we will be following his progress during 2023 here on the website and in the magazine. Stay tuned.

Related: World beater: Aussie solo sailor Lisa Blair shares her story

The post Tom Robinson shares epic tales from first leg of world record-breaking solo journey appeared first on Australian Geographic.

Sophie has spent four years learning everything she can about camels and how to train them, spending time in Australia, the USA and India to do so. In January last year, she mustered five wild camels from the Northern Territory and has since been training them to carry her and her supplies and equipment.

“Several other individuals have crossed Australia with camels. However, as far as I’m aware, I’ll be the first woman to do so solo. My journey will likely take me nine months and I’ll traverse some of the most remote reaches of Australia including the Great Victoria, Strzelecki, Tirari and Sturt Stony deserts,” Sophie says.

“It will be a trip that pushes me physically and mentally. I hope the experience will give me a feeling of empowerment and lead me to being more connected to this land I call home.”

Sophie and her five camels (Mac, Delilah, Charlie, Jude and Clayton) will start their journey heading east from Shark Bay in WA and finish in Byron Bay, NSW.

You can follow Sophie’s journey via her website or instagram

The post Sophie Matterson named the recipient of Nancy-Bird Walton sponsorship appeared first on Australian Geographic.

The green raincoat presses against my chest and the loose fabric on the arms flaps with an insistent whir. The extra wide brim attached to the helmet flips up wildly as I lift my chin too high and it catches the wind. I fight it back down. Those words of caution are whipped away as our speed increases.

I don’t hear Hope’s reply. Likely as not she hasn’t said anything at all. But I trust she has both hands on the grips and is ready. The road is cut down into the dolerite and dips even more steeply ahead. As we emerge I can see the long sweeping corner at the bottom of the hill and the gentle incline that follows.

With no oncoming traffic I let the brakes off fully. Our combined weight sits heavily on the 2 inch tyres until gravity lets us rip. The surface of the bitumen isn’t so smooth that you can take your eyes off it for long. One last glance at the speedo shows we’re well over 60 km/hr. The wind hits suddenly from the right flank and we lean into it. Every muscle is tensed, hands gripping, toes clawing, knees locked and shoulders tense. For a wild moment we are going too fast.

Under a bared teeth grimace I let out a long, low whistling, ‘shiiiiiiiiiit’. The cold summer wind draws out tears that go not downwards but backwards to my ears. The descent finally levels out and we begin to slow. 50, 40, 30. Our momentum is enough to take us up the oncoming hill without pedalling. ‘Whoah, that was a fast one dad.’ Hope calls out with enthusiasm. ‘That’s as close as we’ll get to being a jet plane little matey.’ I reply.

“Our journey finished where it began, on our driveway in the rural hamlet of Flowerpot, Tasmania,” Andrew says. “In the intervening 12 months we pedalled some of Australia’s toughest outback roads with our three- and five-year-old children. The spirit of the country and its people seeped into our tired bones as we encountered generosity and hardship in equal measure.”

www.swagfamily.com.au

The post Home again appeared first on Australian Geographic.

Dr Cagnazzi has studied the species at Fitzroy River in Central Queensland for 13 years and this time using drone technology for photos and video and genetic testing, were able to observe young and adult dolphins ‘stranding’ or ‘beaching’ themselves to catch their next meal.

“Strand feeding occurs where dolphins patrol the mud banks in search of a prey; once the prey has been localised a dolphin swims at high speed toward the shore, catches the fish in its mouth and remains stranded for a short time before sliding gently back into the water,” Dr Cagnazzi said.

“This type of feeding is very risky, as dolphins run the risk of remaining stranded, however, since this behaviour is routinely repeated it must provide an important proportion of their daily feeding needs – dolphins must consume 4-6 per cent of their own body weight in fish each day.

“This feeding only occurs at low tide when the mud banks are exposed, therefore, habitat modification change, increasing flood frequency and sedimentation may affect the ability of dolphins to strand feed to provide their daily food needs. This is something we will continue to monitor.”

Dr Cagnazzi said dolphins around the world have shown different feeding strategies and until now strand feeding had been documented in very few locations internationally and primarily to bottlenose dolphins.

The Fitzroy River is the only known location where Australian humpback dolphins are known to display this behaviour reliably.

“This strand feeding behaviour is conducted primarily by a very well-known family group of humpback dolphins who we’ve identified as long-term residents in the Fitzroy River,” he said.

“The number of dolphins involved in a single episode varies from one to two while the rest of the group is busy in other activities and strand feeding can be full body or partial.”

Australian humpback dolphins are listed as ‘Vulnerable’ in Queensland and in the International Union for Conservation of Nature ‘Red List’ of threatened species.

Dr Cagnazzi says relatively little is known about their ecology.

“From here we are aiming to use the analysis of photographic and genetic data to determine if this strand feeding behaviour is culturally transmitted from the mothers to calves,” Dr Cagnazzi said.

The post Unlocking the secrets to dolphins’ risky feeding habits appeared first on Australian Geographic.

However, the palaeontology enthusiast and biology student from the University at Albany, WA, will face far bigger challenges than most on the outback archaeological expedition: Eleanor was born with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a rare condition causing progressive muscular weakness.

The disease means she has severe trouble breathing and is unable to move anything but a few fingers and her head from side to side.

“After reading various articles on the Lightning Ridge dinosaur dig, my youngest daughter decided she wanted to go – in her wheelchair, with a ventilator to breathe and a mobile hospital capacity in her old camper van,” said Eleanor’s mother, Karen Winnett.

Although it will cost a huge amount to attend, Eleanor is determined, and has created a fundraising initiative through GoFundMe, a website that allows people to donate as little or as much as they like. 

Money from fundraising efforts will go towards a number of medical necessities, including a van equipped with life support.

“Eleanor needs a travelling hospital,” Karen said. “She needs her bi pap ventilator, a gastrostomy feed line to run into her stomach overnight, and power for her chair to be recharged, as well as specific food requirements.”

What is spinal muscular atrophy?

SMA is a hereditary condition, affecting the nerves controlling muscle movement.  

It deteriorates muscles around the spinal cord and in the arms and legs, as well as those used for coughing, swallowing and breathing.

With SMA, the nerve cells of the spinal cord do not have the genetic programming that enables them to send messages properly to the muscles surrounding the spinal cord. Because muscle cells are not stimulated they become incredibly weak or die from lack of use.

“Ellie’s disease should have killed her two decades ago,” said Karen. “An active and enquiringly mind is in a weak and vulnerable body but one that could fail her any day.”

Volunteers search for fossils on a past AGS expedition to Lightning Ridge. (Image: John Pickrell / Australian Opal Centre)

AGS’ Lightning Ridge expedition

In August, the Australian Geographic Society will be taking two separate groups of 20 volunteers to dig and hunt for dinosaur fossils on the opal fields of Lightning Ridge, which produces some of the rarest and most precious fossils in the world.

Guided by leading experts, participants will go to special locations on the opal fields, seeking specimens for the Australian Opal Centre’s globally significant collection of opalised fossils.

The discoveries made on this trip will be added to the Australian Opal Centre’s world-class collection.

Despite the risks and challenges this trip poses for Eleanor, she plans to see it through and, as her mother says, seize the day.

You can help Eleanor attend the expedition by donating here.

The post Attending the AG Society fossil dig against all odds appeared first on Australian Geographic.

We also gave $60,000 in sponsorships to recipients across many disciplines.

We are thrilled to have input from expert advisers Anna Rose, Tim Flannery, Chris Bray and Tim Jarvis when we consider applications to ensure your money is well spent. These sponsorships are financed through the Australian Geographic journal and our other published products. We also raise revenue through scientific expeditions and partnerships with travel organisations that share our passion for helping Australia’s wildlife.

Through our subscribers, donations and participation in our trips, we look forward to another successful year of giving back in 2016.

The post Thank you! 2015 in review appeared first on Australian Geographic.

Twenty-nine-year-old marine biologist Lloyd Godson managed to touch an incredible array of people while he spent 12 days enclosed in a steel chamber 3 m below the rippling surface of “The Pit”, near Albury in southern NSW – the first person to do so using a plant-based life-support system. More than 1000 primary and secondary school students logged on via the internet to participate in his virtual, underwater classroom sessions. Hundreds of emails flooded in from children and adults as far away as Scandinavia, Europe and Asia. Newspapers, television stations and websites found the story irresistibly quirky, sending photos of the long-limbed Aussie ‘aquanaut’ – sporting snorkel, mask and the typically anarchic hair of a scientist – around the world. By the time he emerged from his underwater habitat on 17 April, it was clear Lloyd had achieved far more than a personal goal of living underwater.

“I had no idea so many people would be interested,” he said. “I think it appealed to children because it’s exactly the sort of thing they’d dream up. Adults may tend to say, ‘That’s not possible’, but in a child’s imagination, anything’s possible. And here I was, proving it to be true.

“As for the science of it, well, I didn’t know it at the time, but there’s a whole bunch of people out there who are passionate about this kind of thing.”

“This kind of thing” has enormous relevance for projects far beyond The Pit. Lloyd’s attempt to recycle a portion of his waste through the biocoil and produce power using his 12-volt gener­ator bicycle represents a step towards the crea­tion of a self-contained, self-renew­ing life-support system. And that, says former NASA bioengineer and research aquanaut Dennis Chamberland, is the key to the successful exploration and colonisation of sea and space. “The picnic approach of packing everything and bringing your waste back home is far too expensive for long-term space and sea settlement,” he says. “Explorers have to focus on bioregenerative systems if they plan to move into these frontiers.”

The 100 L of algae in the biocoil provided up to 10 per cent of Lloyd’s oxygen, and although the algae is known as a possible food source, he relied on meal deliveries from the surface. But as Dennis points out, “It really doesn’t matter at this point how many of his needs were met. It does, however, matter very much that Lloyd made history by being the first to try it in an underwater habitat to any degree.”

It wasn’t the world firsts or the relevance for space and sea exploration that sustained Lloyd through 18 months of full-time preparation and 12 days below the surface. “It just felt amazing to be living my dream,” he says. “I got a buzz every day when I thought about living underwater and sharing it with students across Australia. What a feeling it was to hear their excitement when I answered their questions from the Biosub.”

At a constant tem­per­ature of 21.5 ºC, the Biosub was unexpectedly comfortable – although a little smelly, according to several visitors’ reports. Lloyd had foreseen the habitat’s 100 per cent humidity and ensured the floor of the Biosub fell short of its walls by 1 cm, enabling  droplets of condensation to slither down the walls and drip into the water below.

“When I was in there, I loved riding my bike, because it made me realise what I was doing. I was generating electricity underwater and circulating my algae. The floor shook as I pedalled and I couldn’t help but smile.”

Although 30 m from shore and 3 m underwater, Lloyd was surprisingly attuned to what was happening above the surface. He could tell day from night, for instance, and even what the weather was doing, simply by reading the ‘moon pool’, or the manhole in the middle of the floor. “The green glow was like my security light,” he says. “I could even see when a cloud passed over the sun.” He knew when he was about to receive a visitor because the 4 mm steel walls acted like a giant amplifier, picking up the sounds of divers’ movements and heralding their approach.

Despite the constant hum and splash of the biocoil and hourly checks via the intercom from the onshore night­watchmen, Lloyd managed an average of eight hours’ sleep a night. He pedalled for about an hour every day, but reported feeling “fatigued and tired generally, probably from higher carbon dioxide levels of around 0.5–1.5 per cent” (normal levels are around 0.038 per cent). As the days wore on, he slept more and more, and felt his normally even temper begin to fray. By day 11, two days before the project’s planned end, he was snapping at his partner Carolina Sarasiti and display­ing signs of paranoia.

“I knew I wasn’t being myself,” he says. “It’s funny, when you’re in an enclosed space like that it’s easy to talk yourself into things. I knew I was probably being paranoid but I couldn’t help it.”

On the morning of the 12th day, Lloyd’s blood pressure was high, and dizziness was washing over him in waves. He tried to sit it out, breath­ing oxygen from his scuba regulator, but as the day wore on his blood pressure continued to rise and his eyes began to play tricks on him. That evening, Lloyd heeded the advice of medical experts and Carolina, and pulled the plug. At 6 p.m., exactly 12 days after entering the Biosub and 18 hours earlier than planned, Lloyd was on shore and once more breathing the fresh autumn air.

New York psychologist Professor Nancy Rader – who studied Lloyd before and during his time underwater – says it’s not possible to say what caused the problems. “It may be that the isolation – despite electronic communications – contributed, or the mixture of gases in the sealed chamber, or stress,” she says. “Even awareness of a state of high blood pressure can increase hypertension.”

“It was a pretty easy decision because I didn’t feel good,” says Lloyd. “As a diver and scientist, I knew I couldn’t risk my own health and that of my crew.”

Although he’d come out early, Lloyd wasn’t about to disappoint his supporters, and at 7.30 the next morn­ing, he returned to his Biosub for some last-minute filming, while a crowd of well-wishers slowly swelled on the surface. There were toddlers and grand­fathers, farmers and reporters, school­teachers, mothers and teenagers. At midday, when Lloyd was back on dry land and the champagne was flowing, many stepped forward to shake his hand. Others, such as Albury local Rowena Ginns, were happy to watch from the sidelines and comment to whoever happened to be listening: “The country needs more people like him.”

Lloyd Godson and Carolina Sarasiti thank Wonga Wetlands, Descend Underwater Training Centre, Rural Container Supplies, Draeger Safety, SolarCo Albury, Adelaide Hills Solar, Lavo’s Electrical, Trygons Designs, Lanier Voice, Jonathan Whittlesea, W.A. Pickles Cranes, Molecular Products, EFOY, the volunteer divers and the community of Albury–Wodonga.

Source: Australian Geographic Jul- Sep 2007

The post Underwater man lives his dream appeared first on Australian Geographic.

In his fifth AG society-sponsored expedition, he is exploring the tiny 1km-long, 400m-wide island off the coast of Papua New Guinea, in what he calls, The Crusoe Project.

Andrew’s young followers are able to interact with him daily – through real-time video, blogs, and a forum – as he continues to explore the island’s ecosystem, conducting experiments, and attempting to hunt and gather his own food and water.

By swapping ruler for knife and desk for kayak, Andrew hopes to engage young children’s interest in the environment.

“The great thing about adventure learning is that it engages students in a real-time situation,” he says.

“Once they’re listening and keen, the learning just pops in.”

While he does have modern equipment – a laptop and satellite phone to keep his students updated daily – his methods for obtaining food are far more rudimentary.

“I’m enjoying getting back to basics, and facing the daily challenge of feeding myself, collecting water and staying warm,” he says.

The Crusoe Project is focusing on experiments such as seed absorption, seed germination, evaporation and solar oven design, which is being conducted through weekly experiments. “At the same time students can do the same experiment in the classroom and we can compare our results using an online forum,” he says.

It is not all smooth sailing, however, as Andrew explains on day three of his blog. “I did see some pigs rooting up the ground and had a fright when the white one charged… I have enough [water] for ten days, maybe a few more. Let’s hope it rains soon”.

In previous experiments the spirited adventurer has kayaked around the Papua New Guinea coast, scaled the eight tallest peaks of Australia, and sought after Tasmanian tigers – each expedition focussed on a different teaching emphasis.

While he is enjoying the experience, a lack of shelter from the island’s elements may promise to make this expedition an interesting one, he says, “I’m wet through and [have] no change of clothes; might be a cold night”. Not only does it look like Andrew is in for a long night, but also a long month.

To follow Andrew’s progress and to read his daily blog, visit www.expeditionclass.com.au.

The post The desert island classroom appeared first on Australian Geographic.

Visit Australian Geographic on YouTube!

Go to the Australian Geographic Society homepage.

The post AG Society welcome video appeared first on Australian Geographic.

But Australia’s wetlands are some of the most beautiful and diverse areas of biological activity, represented in every state. We have 65 wetlands covering over 7.5 million hectares that are designated as Ramsar wetlands. This means that they are rare or unique and important for conserving biological diversity.

The swamps, lagoons, channels and flood plains of wetland areas are home to a vast array of bird life. In the north, their numbers swell to the thousands after the wet season when the wetlands come into their own.

If you have never visited the north in the wet, or are yet to be convinced about the beauty of our wetlands, you should take the time during this International Year of Biodiversity to discover some of the beauty of Australia.

Join our trip to Cape York, visit Conservation Volunteers Australia to join one of their projects, or perhaps just take a 10-minute virtual tour of the Ramsar listed wetlands in the Coburg Peninsula!

To find out more about wetlands, including this week’s celebrations of World Wetlands Day visit, visit this website.

On World Wetlands Day during the International Year of Biodiversity, inspire yourself and others by learning a little bit more about the world around you.

View GALLERY: Australia’s wetlands.

The post Happy World Wetlands Day! appeared first on Australian Geographic.

We checked in with Russell to see what he’s been up to since the October trek.

What did the Society sponsor you to do?
The Australian Geographic Society were a terrific help with the expedition by supplying funds for much needed equipment. They also featured the expedition in various publications for awareness of the expedition but also for awareness of the work of Moira Kelly and the Children First Foundation.

It was because of such help that we received, many more people now know of the Children First Foundation and the lifesaving and life changing work they are involved with. So many people who we met along the journey saw the Australian Geographic sign on the side of the saddle bags and commented they would be purchasing Australian Geographic to read the story of the expedition and of the updated as to the expeditions progress and the end result of the success of the expedition.

When we were talking with these people we had absolutely no idea that Trishna and Krishna were to be separated as we arrived in Melbourne. “What a fantastic present for the twins upon their separation”, one of the expedition supporters commented as we arrived at the Royal Children’s Hospital where Moira Kelly was looking after the newly separated twins. I guess they were right, after all, how many people get to have eight camels and two ordinary Aussies, who have walked 6500kms through some of the harshest country in the world to say thanks to their ‘Mum’  after a major and world first operation of it’s type operation giving hope of a long life?

Without major sponsors like the Australian Geographic Society, the expedition wouldn’t have been possible as we were self funding as much of the expedition as possible.

Where does this enthusiasm for camels come from?
 
My enthusiasm for camels came purely from organising the expedition. It was obvious to me when I got the idea of the expedition over thirteen years ago that camels were the only animal who would be able to complete the job and carry all of the equipment needed, water, food etc. At that time I knew nothing about camels and most definitely nothing about expedition work, deserts, the harshness of the Australian outback and the logistics required to organise a camel expedition.

What I have discovered since getting further involved with camels when organising the expedition was that camels are an incredibly unique animal. As described to me by many, “A horse designed by a committee.”  How positively true. They have great benefit to the human population in so many ways, not only as some of the best animals to work with but also in more practical ways when we consider the issues of an increasing feral herd problem in the arid zone. After all, many Aboriginal communities don’t have access to industries or job opportunities and an emerging feral camel industry involving mustering catching / trapping transporting and shipping or dressing the animals for either human or animal consumption would allow for these types of opportunities to present themselves to the desert Aboriginal people.

Now I see the camel as a gift that was left for us to enjoy their company, if working with them, but also as opportunity as a resource of protein, leather , fat  and other products to benefit the human condition. They are suited to the Australian environment and when we consider the potential effects of global warming upon  the arid zone, I see a future in farming the camels when the conditions become unsuitable for the farming of the traditional beef and sheep sources of protein.
 
Tell us a bit about the camel “invasion” of last year, and your take on it?
 
I have recently come back from a months work in Docker River where the supposed “invasion” occurred and the world media’s attention was focused. From a camelmans perspective I was able to seek the evidence of the camels movements and the impact they had from the evidence left behind. Not only are their scats evidence of occupation of an area but also the effects camels have and in what intensity they were in from which trees were affected and how the trees were affected.
 
The movement of the camels came in from the northern section of the town and the bulk of the camels were approximately 700 meters away from the community. There is a house about 500 meters away from the community and close to the area where the camels had congregated. The famous photo of the baby camel sucking on the door knob was taken at this house. As you got closer to the community the evidence showed less and less camels got this close to the community and in the town itself, I couldn’t see any evidence of the camels reaching this far in the populated areas of the community.

I was shown a bore which was dug for the camels 9 kms away from the town and I was also shown maps of the area where future bores are to be dug in preparation for this type of event to again occur.
The men of the community indicated to me that they wanted to sell the camels and make money, be employed in the mustering and trucking of these animals out of the arid zone. The women were just glad they were able to go out bush now as the size of the herd that came to Docker River prevented them from collecting bush tucker and other ceremonial functions.

Four livestock and meat works companies had made offers to remove the animals for processing but this didn’t occur as they hadn’t been given permission to access the lands or the community.
Many studies have been undertaken over many decades by scientists, anthropologists, economists and the like with pretty much the same result. A more recent one which Desert Knowledge’s completed at a cost of $15 million didn’t say much more than what has been said before and had some blatant discrepancies which were designed to demonise the camel but were false and misleading sources of information.

The overall truth still remains, whilst these studies are continuing to be funded and discussed, the camel population is increasing at a rate of an extra 80-140 thousand camels per year on a expediential growth pattern and something does need to be done to assist in the management of the feral camels numbers. We will experience camels coming towards communities in the future to seek water during the dry times of the year and their numbers will be increasing in these types of events.

Since the United Nations has already declared the world to be protein deprived, we are in a fantastic situation to redirect the funds from the studies, which have had decades of regurgitating the same material, towards setting up the infrastructure for systematic removal of the camel from the arid zone to be tagged and pastoralised and finally processed for human benefit. After all, it’s not rocket science. We have sent men to the moon so what is stopping us from removing animals from one area to be placed into another area to benefit mankind. Sure there are logistical issues to overcome but my firm belief is that Australians are capable of far greater than the result we have seen from a massive culling exercise which benefits no-one.

Incidentally, 3604 camels were slaughtered in the Docker River cull. Reports of seeing injured animals who were not shot dead instantly have been made to me and local information of increased numbers of feral dogs and cats and flies in the culling zone and beyond has also been relayed to me. If this is the case, what of the native animals and their future? We are capable of better than that and I hate the idea that the rest of the world now have the option of referring to us Australians as being rich, fat and stupid. After all, if this was any other country on the planet, chances are there would already be an effectively operating camel industry, utilizing this gift and valuable resource.
 

The post Society Spotlight: Russell Osborne appeared first on Australian Geographic.

At the same time, Ray Thomas, the 2009 Australian Geographic Conservationist of the Year, saw an area of Australian woodlands in desperate need of protection.

The regent honeyeater, Xanthomyza phrygia — a tiny black and gold bird native to Australia — was once found in great numbers throughout the box ironbark forests of NSW and Victoria. These eucalypt forests, with canopies that can grow up to 25 m high, have been subjected to intense forestry. About 85 per cent of box ironbark forests in Victoria have been cleared since European settlement.

As a result, numbers of the endangered regent honeyeater are currently estimated at as low as 800 individuals nationally.

At around the same time that Ray was beginning a mammoth project to replenish Australia’s box ironbark forests, 10 of these diminutive honeyeaters were relocated from their homes to Taronga Zoo in Sydney, destined to become among the saviours of their species.

The birds that were taken to Taronga in 1995 have since become the proud parents, grandparents and possibly great-grandparents of more than 30 chicks.

Meanwhile, Ray, along with the help of thousands of volunteers, planted 385,000 seedlings during this period and saw areas of vegetation return to their former beauty. Dense forests that could soon be home to native animals were restored through the cooperation of local farmers, schools and communities.

“THIS YEAR, THERE have been fewer sightings of regent honeyeaters in the wild than ever before,” says Taronga bird keeper Michael Shield. “In a hope to reverse this trend, we are currently pairing up adult birds and providing them with the optimum conditions to welcome hatchlings into the world.”

It is hoped that up to 100 birds will be released in to the wild in Victoria this year. With radio transmitters fitted to their tails or onto their backs, the movements of these tiny migratory birds will be tracked as they nest high above the ground or search for food among their newly replenished, flowering eucalypt homes.

“We try to make sure that the birds bred at the zoo are as close to their wild cousins as possible,” Michael said. “To ensure that they don’t have a ‘zoo accent’ we have been playing them callings from birds living in the forests where they will be released — in the hope they will not only act and look the same, but also sound the same.”

The survival of these species relies on more than just the breeding program. Ray and his community of volunteers are working overtime to ensure that the ecosystem that sustains these tiny birds does not go into decline.

The regent honeyeater breeding program is one of many projects supported by the Taronga Foundation during 2010 for the international Year of Biodiversity. National volunteer programs for 2010 are listed here.

LINKS
The regent honeyeater breeding program at Taronga Zoo
The International Year of Biodiversity
2009 AG Conservationist of the Year: Ray Thomas

The post Saviour of a species appeared first on Australian Geographic.

After much discussion all members of the panel were in agreement that the project chosen should be:

1. Initiated by and led by a woman
2. Ground breaking – either through a new adventure or new scientific project, or because it is an endeavour that’s beyond the applicant’s known skills or past experience
3. Inspirational to a new generation of Australian female adventurers
4. Remindful of Nancy Bird Walton’s legacy
5. Able to be communicated to a wide audience
 
As this is the inaugural Nancy Bird Walton Sponsorship, each application was then rigorously reviewed with these outcomes in mind.

After a great deal of deliberation, the panel made the decision that in order to honour Nancy Bird’s legacy as a true pioneer for women adventurers, it was appropriate to hold off on awarding the sponsorship until the right applicant was found.

The review panel then decided to re-open the sponsorship application period for a further three months (until 30 April 2010). Shortly after that closing date the panel will reconvene to look over all applications. If, after that time, a suitable applicant is still not found, the sponsorship will be held over until 2011, when the amount to be awarded will accumulate to a total of $10,000.

Apply for the Nancy Bird Walton Sponsorship now (PDF) or email the Society administrator for more information on society@ausgeo.com.au.

LINKS
AG Society sponsorships

The post Search continues for sponsorship awardee appeared first on Australian Geographic.

So far in 2010…

Reef Check Australia has been spending a lot of time underwater. Teams of trained volunteer divers in South East Queensland have just wrapped up their survey season and collected information about coral community health on 26 sites from 19 reefs ranging from Noosa to the Gold Coast.

You can view summary data from a particular reef at the RCA website.

Survey teams on the Great Barrier Reef are jumping back into action and just several weeks ago started their 2010 monitoring season. Divers will spend the next several months visiting reefs up and down the GBR, collecting data about coral, fish, invertebrates and other impacts like coral bleaching and marine debris.

Paul Markey has recently taken on the role of project officer for the 2010 survey season. Paul has had years of experience underwater undertaking monitoring projects in the Seychelles, working as a dive master on Ningaloo Reef where he volunteered his spare time to assist with Manta Ray research. Paul is excited about the developing survey season and the opportunity to collaborate with RCA’s elite volunteers and work as part of the Reef Check Australia team.

We asked Paul a few questions to get to know what makes a Reef Check Australia volunteer tick.

To me Australia means… rugged beauty, unexplored coast and countryside, unique and interesting creatures.

I never leave home without… my backpack – I take it everywhere with me and it generally contains my camera, a pen and pad, a pocket knife, my sunnies, whatever book I’m currently reading, music, and small rocks and coins from various places I’ve visited.

My biggest fear is… confined spaces and crowded areas, I begin to really panic when the two are combined.

I find it hard to believe that… people eat shark fin soup. And worse, people fin sharks.

When the going gets tough… the going is always tough, or it’s probably not worth doing.

My earliest memory of nature is… catching lizards in the backyard of my childhood home.

I wish people understood… how much one person can make a difference. I know it is a cliché, but if each person took smalls steps to reduce the amount of waste they create, the planet would be in a much better situation.

At the moment I am reading… South, The Endurance Expedition.

I’d love to sit and talk to… Edward Abbey, my favourite naturalist and one of my favourite authors; it would be great to be able to chat with him around a campfire.

Donate now

to help Reef Check Australia continue their work and help save Australia’s Coral Reefs.

The post How to save a coral reef appeared first on Australian Geographic.

If you would like more information on this once in a lifetime opportunity to explore the Galapagos Islands, Peregrine Adventures, along with AG, are hosting a free movie information night.

Sydney
WHERE: 54 Park Street, Sydney
WHEN: Wednesday 26 May, 6 p.m.

To reserve your seat please call 1300 143 119 or head to www.peregrineadventures.com and choose the Attend a Film Night tab.

READ MORE: Info and bookings for Galapagos expedition 2010.

The post Travel to the Galapagos with AG appeared first on Australian Geographic.

The Kimberley is located in the northern part of Western Australia and is one of the world’s last great wilderness areas. 

AGS scientific expedition’s base camp was located within El Questro Wilderness Park, an almost 1 million acre property 70km west of Kununurra.

It is one of the most iconic places along the Gibb River road and is a land of vast open savannah, rocky gorges and impressive plateaus.

The hard-to-access location, abundant wildlife and varied habitat, meant that scientists from across the country jumped at the chance to work on projects as part of the Society’s Emma Gorge expedition. Hailing from six of the eight states and territories, leading scientists specialising in a variety of different fields came together for this one-of-a-kind project, which is designed to better understand the area’s wildlife before cane toads arrive, bringing with them inevitable and serious change.

Beating the toad
This year, a particularly big Wet helped cane toads move further and faster than usual, bringing them closer to the pristine wilderness of the Kimberley. Now, most experts believe the toads will arrive at El Questro next year.

So research assistants, scientists and a keen group of volunteers put their all into extensive baseline studies designed to better understand the wildlife in the park before the cane toads make their entrance.

Originally released to control pest beetles in 1935, cane toads are listed in the World Conservation Union’s world 100 worst invasive species.

Emma Gorge, one of El Questro’s more famous gorges situated in the north-east of the Wilderness Park, is surrounded by the tall, steep sandstone cliffs of the Cockburn Ranges. Kim Hands and her team of volunteers at the Stop The Toad Foundation, have constructed a 1.3 km toad-proof fence, which was used extensively to conduct biodiversity surveys, as well as an attempt to create a control site for the scientists.

All hands on deck
Our team of expedition members, covering a true range of backgrounds and age groups, were all passionate about Australia and its wellbeing.

So, with all hands on deck the team worked tirelessly, conducting night-time frog surveys, catching more than 50 species of butterfly, snorkelling for turtles and fish, spotting goanna by boat from the Ord River and checking traps for our reptile and biodiversity surveys.  

Expedition teams also, hiked up various lookouts to spot birds with the Society’s Young Conservationist of the Year 2010, Simon Cherriman and enjoyed nightly presentations with other campers from each of the scientists involved.   

The Australian Geographic Society would like to thank the generous contributions of Aurora Expeditions for donating a percentage of profits from their three Kimberley Coast voyages to the Society.

AGS would also like to thank our sponsors, Mitsubishi and TC Communications for getting us around and keeping us in touch.

Support
The Australian Geographic Society is dedicated to supporting scientific research, protecting and fostering a love for our environment and natural heritage, encouraging the spirit of discovery and spreading the knowledge of Australia to Australians and the world!

Donating to the society can help fund more scientific expeditions like this one. Donate now.  

The post Emma Gorge scientific expedition 2011 appeared first on Australian Geographic.

The scholarship funds have gone to help research endangered species, climate change and pollution.

Winners for the scholarship were selected from applicants across the country. These students are bright and passionate about environmental conservation and restoration in Australia.

Mathew Fraser of the University of Western Australia, was awarded one of three $6000 scholarships for his proposal to help in the conservation and research of Shark Bay, WA.

Third-year student Lily Leahy of the University of Tasmania was also awarded a scholarship to work with Dr Menna Jones studying the impacts of Tasmanian devil decline in shaping ecosystems.

Kelly Fox, a second-year student at the University of Queensland won a scholarship for her proposal to help researchers reconstruct the history of storms and cyclones along the WA coastline during the past 7000 years.

In partnership with Bookend Trust, a further four enthusiastic Year 12 students have also been awarded the shared 10-week, $10,000 research fund. The students awarded, all from Rosny College in Tasmania, are Bridget Dickenson, Aden Handasyde, Katie Mulder and Sophie Warren. These lucky year 12 students even get to experience a jump out of helicopter.

“This type of scholarship is so important because it gives students vital hands-on experience working outdoors. Such practical experience is the single most important thing in building knowledge about the natural environment,” says Simon Cherriman, Australian Geographic Young Conservationist of the Year 2010 says.

The annual scholarship scheme is aimed at giving senior secondary school and undergraduate tertiary students like these experience in environmental research or restoration during their summer break. To apply for a Bayerboost scholarship and for more information visit the bayerboost website. www.bayerboost.com.au

Email society@ausgeo.com.au for an application form and guidelines.

The post Environmental scholarships underway appeared first on Australian Geographic.

“Hopefully nest boxes will help by recreating some of those spaces,” says Simon Cherriman, 2010 Australian Geographic Young Conservationist.

Gill Basnett and Simon began running ‘Nest Box Workshops’ in schools two months ago to promote the importance of natural habitats for Australian species in suburban areas. Gill is an ecologist and environmental educator and consultant. Simon has been sponsored by the Australian Geographic Society for his work on wedge-tailed eagles, and has been building nest boxes since he was 10years old.

“I remember thinking ‘surely a wild animal won’t use this, it’s just a square, man-made box in a tree, not anything that looked particularly natural,” says Simon, who first built a box to appease his dad. “It was for a possum that was living in our roof, and to my surprise, the possum moved out and into the box soon after I installed it in a tree.”

Taking nest boxes to schools

The workshops aim to get school students thinking about sustainability, by undertaking long term projects, and by showing students that they can create a connection with local wildlife. “We believe it is vital for our students to be involved in authentic actions so that they feel empowered and know that they can have a positive impact on their environment,” says Catherine Bishop, deputy principal at Ardross Primary School, just south of Perth.

Simon and Gill bring students a hands-on workshop and a talk on the importance of recycling. “Most of us think of recycling as just putting cans and newspaper in yellow lidded bins,” says Simon. But so many materials can be reused instead of going into landfill. Our boxes are made from scrap or ‘rescued’ plywood, which was donated to us.”

The workshops provide school students with a number of pre-made boxes in kit form.  Nest boxes can be any size, but schools groups use three designs. “Big boxes are suitable for black cockatoos, and the smaller nest boxes provide good habitat for parrots and possums,” says Simon. Students put the boxes together in small groups and paint them, before they are installed high in the trees.

Birds nesting in boxes

Ardross Primary School, in Western Australia, which took part in the workshops six weeks ago, has seen increased bird life already. “There is still a lot of bird interest here. Some pink and grey galahs spent a week trying to get into the small parrot box near the classrooms, so we felt sorry for them and got a box with a bigger hole from a local Men’s Shed. They moved into it the next day,” says Catherine.

The boxes have been designed to keep away other inhabitants, like bees, by ensuring there is a small amount of airflow under the lid. The nest boxes are also designed with specific birds in mind; those placed in areas with parrots have aluminium reinforced corners to stop them being chewed. “The kids found the piece of wire that had been attached to the inside of the box as a ladder, on the ground below the nest. They think the birds didn’t like it and have chewed it off and thrown it out,” says Catherine.

It goes further than just putting the boxes in the trees; students maintain a diary and monitor the birdlife around the boxes. Students keep a ‘Nest Box Book’ and make daily recordings of what birds and animals are in or on the boxes. “We have a notebook in the office area which the children write in when they see birds doing interesting things… The kids have been documenting everything,” says Catherine.

“Ideally in the future there’ll be red tailed black cockatoos nesting all over Perth. There’s only one record, and that was last year and in a nest box,” says Simon.

RELATED STORIES

The post Bird nest boxes gives kids a nature experience appeared first on Australian Geographic.

Though she knew nothing about motorbikes – except they got her from A to B – she bought one on her trip to Laos anyway. Little did she know, this would play a huge part in future adventures. By the end of 2008 she embarked on a 10-month solo mission across Asia.

Itchy feet got the better of Danielle again in 2010, and she set off to complete her journey, this time with AG Society funding: two-years, one motorbike, and 40 countries, covering 75,000km.

Having started in Africa, we have word from Danielle near the end of her remarkable journey:

When I left Brisbane 20 months ago I thought I’d be on the home stretch by now…

The nearest ‘fundi’ or motorcycle expert in Swahili, the local dialect, is in Nairobi some 700km and a border crossing away from where I broke down.  I’m not sure if I can technically add the last 700 kilometres to my accomplishments, but one thing I know for sure is I’m far from giving up!

Danielle was awarded the 2010 ‘Nancy Bird Walton Sponsorship for Adventurous Women’ by the Australian Geographic Society.

To follow Danielle on her adventures check-out her Facebook page or visit her website.

The post On the road to crossing 40 countries appeared first on Australian Geographic.

Kids are invited to borrow the family camera and explore their close environment for their chance to win exciting prizes while sharing their discoveries with the rest of the country.

The challenge encourages the budding explorers to get to know the nature surrounding them by producing a short series of pictures or a short video telling the story of their own garden, answering the question “How does your backyard grow?”

The images can deal with a range of topics such as growing herbs in the family garden that will be used for cooking, or dealing with snails in a community garden. It can illustrate the cycle of life for animals or plants of the garden or show the unique aspects of growing plants in specific regions of the country. It can show the successes or challenges of growing plants depending on the local conditions, the natural events, or the weather.

Those who do not have a big backyard or live on a farm can also enter the challenge: there is also a lot to say about what can grow in a pot or on your balcony.
 
Kids can enter the competition as individuals or as a group. Why not work on it as a class, with your parents or grandparents, or with friends or a community group.

The best projects will be rewarded by great prizes such as cameras, video cameras, or award packs.

The challenge starts Monday, 10 September and ends Friday, 16 November.

Find out more at www.juniorlandcarechallenge.com.au

The post Landcare contest gets kids outside appeared first on Australian Geographic.

Restricted exclusively to sandstone areas around Sydney, the toadlets’ home has been impacted by habitat loss due to sandstone harvesting for garden landscaping as well as pollution, disease and changed fire regimes.

The 3cm-long red-crowned toadlet is listed as vulnerable by the New South Wales State Government and already some local populations of the frog have become extinct.

Professor Michael Mahoney from the school of environmental and life sciences at Newcastle University believes that human interaction is the biggest threat to the species. “Mostly human impacts affect their habitat,” he says. “Unfortunately, habitat of the red-crowned toadlet overlaps with urban development on the sandstone ridges of the Sydney basin.”

Habitat protection for rare toadlet

Conservation Volunteers Australia, working with New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, have recognised the threat to the frog and created their ‘Wild Futures’ conservation program to try and protect its habitat.
 
Conservation Volunteers National Coordinator Prue Simmons says that the frog plays an essential part in the local ecosystem. The program works to protect Sydney populations and aims to maintain a healthy habitat for the frog to breed.

“Volunteer teams will assist by planting native vegetation to provide protection and to improve water run-off systems, remove weeds that impact vital habitat and help with surveys to monitor populations,” says Prue.

“It is hoped that by carrying out this conservation work with volunteers throughout crucial red-crowned toadlet habitat, that we can help this little amphibian overcome many of the threats that are pushing it towards extinction.”

For information on how to volunteer to help the red crowned toadlet visit the Conservation Volunteers website.

The post Toadlet in trouble appeared first on Australian Geographic.

It’s a rare genetic disorder which results in a lack of pigmentation on a part of its body, in this case over its usually blue feather coat.

Researcher Sandra Vogel from the University of New South Wales who spotted the penguin has been leading a research project along the coast of New South Wales and is confident that, although piebald, the penguin is perfectly healthy. However, its chances of survival are slim.  

“Little penguins are usually blue on top and white underneath when swimming, making them very hard to see for predators like sea eagles,” Sandra says. “With this advantage being compromised, the piebald penguin will have a hard time surviving.”

Little penguins under threat

Little penguins are currently listed as protected under the New South Wales government and their distribution is limited to the southern regions of Australia.

Scientists are working to find out more about the little penguins, in the hopes that better understanding will lead to more effective protection for the species.

Sandra is focusing on the New South Wales penguin colonies, and is currently conducting demographic research in Jervis Bay. Sandra’s fieldwork has taken her to islands in Jervis Bay and the Pittwater region where she spends days at a time catching, assessing, micro-chipping and then releasing as many as 50 penguins a day.

“It is important to forecast population changes in Little Penguin colonies because the penguins are both a good indicator of ecosystem health on land and at sea as well as an iconic native Australian animal, which might be in need of more protection than it currently receives.”

“Unless we know which threats the penguins are most vulnerable to, we might not be able to respond to those threats before the penguins are at risk of serious population declines” Sandra says.

The post Piebald penguin discovered appeared first on Australian Geographic.

AGS-sponsored PhD student Dejan Stojanovic, at the Australian National University, Canberra, has found that many ground surveys with binoculars – which are completed prior to land clearing and affect conservation decisions – have underestimated or overestimated nesting sites of swift parrots (Lathamus discolor).

“These surveys are prone to huge errors. When you climb the tree you realise that of those 20 you spotted from the ground, five are stains in the bark, three are flooded and the rest are occupied by other animals,” he says. These errors are likely to contribute to poor conservation decisions for cavity-dependent species.

Work by Dejan and his coworkers has shown that the best way to find and count swift parrot nests is by actually climbing trees.

“Given the importance of tree cavities to wildlife, reducing errors in counts is necessary to improving conservation of forests and the animals they support” he says.

The south-eastern forests inhabited by swift parrots are threatened by the loss of cavity-bearing trees to forestry. This, coupled with the parrot’s habitat requirements, competition for nesting sites and high predation rates, has resulted in drastic population declines.

“Swift parrots are dealing with not only the rarity of the resource they need to survive, but are also competing with eight or nine other species that use hollows.” Dejan says.

RELATED STORIES

The post Swift parrot numbers underestimated appeared first on Australian Geographic.

This could provide new information about how sharks and rays use sound in their environment, and how it helps them maintain their place at the top of the food chain.

To do this, Lucille, a graduate student from the University of Western Australia in Perth, will be studying the workings of sharks’ inner ears.

“This study will be the first to accurately assess the hearing abilities of a range of Australian species from different habitats and also assess the effects of sound on behaviour,” she says.

The project will focus on Australian waters, which host about 180 species of sharks, 70 of which are found nowhere else. Sharks and rays play a crucial role in maintaining ecosystem health, and Lucille believes that learning about their little-studied sense of hearing will help inform conservation management.

“In the long term, this study may contribute new methods and technologies to help prevent sharks from being killed by entanglements, and could also lead to shark acoustic repellent devices to protect beaches worldwide,” Lucille says.

RELATED ARTICLES

The post Predator repellent appeared first on Australian Geographic.

 “One of the reasons the Brooks Range traverse is considered one of the toughest, is that the start point is the furthest point from civilisation [of any traverse] and you can see down the valleys for miles,” John says.

“The line of sight is really good, but seeing the end point constantly can be a really confronting experience.”

Only four other people are known to have trekked the range solo. It sits deep inside the Arctic Circle, spanning Alaska from east to west, and briefly crosses into Canada’s Yukon Territory.

John first learnt about the Brooks Range in 2006, when he read an article about the Alaskan adventurer Keith Nyitray doing a solo traverse with his wolf-dog, Smoke. Inspired by Keith, John was determined to also complete the expedition solo. “When I set myself this challenge I’d never used a compass or read a topographic map. I’d never even slept in a tent. I really was starting from scratch,” he says.

John Cantor displays the Australian Geographic Society flag.

After three unsuccessful attempts, John was able to overcome injury, illness and personal doubts to complete what he expected to be an 80-day expedition in a little over a month. This allowed him to smash the record for the fastest traverse.

 “I didn’t truly believe that I was going to make it that far,” he says. “Even half a day’s paddle from the end I still didn’t know if I was going to make it.”

 During the journey John crossed only one road and passed just two small Native American villages. His route involved 1000km of hiking and 600km of paddling an inflatable kayak down the Noatak River, but it wasn’t just about the distance.

“You just don’t have any idea of the sheer scale of the Brooks Range until you’re out there; it was a huge psychological challenge,” he says.

“There aren’t many places on Earth that have that isolation.”

John plans to tackle the ranges again, this time in winter.

RELATED ARTICLES

The post Brooks Range traverse appeared first on Australian Geographic.

These tiny, green molluscs are able to steal chloroplasts from their algal food source. Chloroplasts are parts of plant cells that capture energy from sunlight, and these slugs use them to capture energy in much the same way – a very rare ability in animals.

Jude is using AG Society funding to determine whether the formation of new Elysia species has been driven more by geographic isolation of populations or through ‘ecological speciation’ where different groups of animals start to use different resources in the environment.

“If I find that they are kept separate by living on different algae, but are found in the same area, this would provide support for ecological speciation, a hot topic in evolutionary ecology,” she says.

RELATED STORIES

The post The sea slug that can harness the Sun appeared first on Australian Geographic.

This behaviour is most common in bird species but rare among lizards, and Stephan believes the sleepy lizard’s relationships provide a unique opportunity to gain a better understanding of monogamy in terrestrial animals.

“During the mating season both male and female sleepy lizards actively maintain the pair bond and, after the mating season, pair partners appear to stay in loose contact before reuniting the next spring to mate again,” Stephan says.

“We know of some pairs that have been doing this for more than 25 years.”

Stephan and colleagues at Flinders University, Adelaide, plan to use their observations of undisturbed wild lizards to determine whether long-term lizard pairs have stronger pair bonds than new pairs.

“Although we have very detailed observations of the behaviour during one mating season, we still don’t understand what drives long-term monogamy in this species.”

The post Lizards in love appeared first on Australian Geographic.

The successful candidate will share our passion for Australia’s natural history, culture, history and environment.

This is a great opportunity to join the team that produces the Australian Geographic journal, website and associated published products and contribute to the success of an iconic Australian brand.

Position duties
This busy position involves organising of assignments and travel, assisting with event management, office management, invoicing and maintaining budgets. Customer service. Organising fund and profile raising activities for the Australian Geographic Society, administration of the sponsorships process. Administration of the commercial operations of the business.

Person specification
Required: Experience in a not-for-profit or media organisation. Educated to tertiary level, professional experience in an administrative role, proficiency in EXCEL. Excellent communication skills.
Preferred: Demonstrable passion for and knowledge of Australia’s natural environment. Ability in Adobe Creative Suite.
Familiarity with Adobe Creative Suite and CMS software an advantage.

Please contact us for an information pack and salary guide at editorial@bauer-media.com.au with Australian Geographic administrator in the subject line.

Applications close 7 June 2013.

The post Want to work for Australian Geographic? appeared first on Australian Geographic.

Nominations are now open, so tell us about someone who you feel has made an outstanding contribution to the restoration or wellbeing of Australia’s natural environment, at a local, state or national level.

This year you can send us nominations for three prestigious Australian Geographic Society awards – the Young Conservationist of the Year Award (under 25s), Conservationist of the Year Award (for achievements within the last two years) or Lifetime of Conservation Award (for someone who has dedicated their lives to conservation).

Past award winners include Bob Brown who for over 40 years stood at the frontline of big conservation battles; Valerie and Ron Taylor, recognised in 2008 for 50 years of underwater conservation work, including their groundbreaking research into shark behaviour; Trevor Evans, founder of Secret Creek – a home to conservation projects for 12 different species of locally endangered wildlife; and Simon Cherriman, a young filmmaker with a passion for Australian wildlife.

Now it’s your turn to get involved! Download the nomination form and email it to society@ausgeo.com.au or post it to us at Australian Geographic Society, Level 7, 54 Park Street, Sydney, NSW 2000

DOWNLOAD THE NOMINATION FORM

Award winners will be announced at the Australian Geographic Society’s Annual Gala Dinner to be held at the Shangri-La Hotel, Sydney on Friday, 1 November 2019.

For more information on past Australian Geographic Society award winners visit the AG Society awards page.

All nominations must be received by 31 July, 2019.

The post Nominate your conservationist of the year! appeared first on Australian Geographic.

Last week, I travelled to Brisbane to speak to some Country Women’s Association (CWA) members for an upcoming story. The women I met were very generous with their time and extraordinarily proud of the organisation they devote so much time to. CWA has been operating in Australia for more than 85 years. There’s so much more to it than tea and scones; CWA provides enormous support for Australian rural people struggling to keep going in the face of drought, job shortages and poor health and education services.

On the morning before I flew home to Sydney, I was invited to watch the Oxley CWA branch’s weekly choir practice. As the ladies performed renditions from the musical Guys and Dolls, I got an overwhelming sense that CWA is a fantastic way for these women to bond together, make friends and contribute to their local communities. I relished listening to their stories as many of the women have been members for more than 50 years and I’m very grateful for the opportunity to unearth some of the people involved in CWA – such an iconic part of country life – and share their community spirit with you.

I’m back in the office now – deciphering scribbled notes, transcribing recorded interviews and agonising over what to include in the introduction. Hopefully, the story will showcase some of the fabulous characters that we don’t often hear about in mainstream news, who quietly volunteer their time to better the lives of others.

The post The AG Journey: Meet the Country Women’s Association appeared first on Australian Geographic.

Students at the Darraweit Guim Primary School have been assisting Annie and the wombats by collecting grasses. Native and exotic grasses, carrots and sweet potatoes and animal feed give the wombats a rounded diet to help them gain weight.

The age of a wombat is usually determined by their weight. However, the wombats in Annie’s care are so malnourished it is difficult to tell their exact age. Young wombats will put on weight easily when they are healthy. Wombalano and her sisters may take months to get back to the weight they were before the fires. Once they have put weight back on, they will continue to grow at the same rate as other healthy wombats of their size.

Since arriving at Annie’s house in April, Wombalano has put on a huge 2.4 kg in just six weeks. Over the next six months Wombalano will need to more than double her current size to be in the healthy weight range for a young lady wombat her age.

Annie will continue to weigh Wombalano every few weeks to make sure she continues to put on weight. Her big sister Wyeriguru does not get weighed as it would be too traumatic for a wombat of her size.

As wild animals, it is important that the wombats in Annie’s care do not become too used to human contact. When they are healthy enough, they will all be released into the wild and will need to look after themselves. If they are too accustomed to human contact they may find it difficult to readjust when released, which could be fatal.

The post Wombat Watch: Week 3 appeared first on Australian Geographic.

What does this mean exactly? Well, for me, it means a whole lot of work!

This round we have received over 40 applications for sponsorship from all over the country and even a few international applications. We have applications from people walking, riding and sailing. From scientists studying wahoo (it’s a fish!) or walbachia (it’s a bacteria!) and various other things that will see me reaching for the dictionary or recalling some piece of obscure zoological knowledge that resides in the very far reaches of my brain since a mis-spent university career!

It will take me days to read over every piece of material submitted by the applicants, to give each and every one the best chance of getting sponsored by AG.

Why? Because the worst part of my job is telling people we are unable to sponsor them.

The post The AG Society Blog: Wahoo and walbachia appeared first on Australian Geographic.

And then I get an update from Andrew Hughes…

The Society is a sponsor on Andrew’s current adventure “8 in 8 in 8”. Many of you will know Andrew from articles in the journal. The concept for the expedition is to climb Australia’s eight highest peaks in the eight states and territories in eight months. Sounds easy – we sure we don’t have the highest mountains in the world! So just for fun Andrew is cycling, kayaking or walking the massive distances between the peaks.

What I really love about the expedition is that Andrew has a great blog that he updates as he goes. His weekly updates are followed by school kids and kids at heart from all over Australia (and probably the world). He gives an insight into this wide brown land that most of us will never experience (unless of course you choose to ride across it over the course of 8 months.)

You can follow Andrew’s journey here.

The post The AG Society Blog: Inspiration from the inbox appeared first on Australian Geographic.

In the last edition of the journal we looked at microscopic viruses and massive whales, solving murders with flies and how humans made it to the moon. These all required both editorial and graphic elements to tell the whole story and this takes careful planning. Creating the graphics often means bringing together experts from outside the office – graphic journalists, picture researchers, illustrators and designers.

A close encounter with a cold virus may result in a heady fog but trying to give clarity to the process of infection took weeks for Craig Bowman, our illustrator, and a team of experts. My job is to create a vibrant and beautiful journal but the most intriguing and visually spectacular pages often spring from the most unexpected places: who would have thought that a sneeze could hold such beauty? I’m sure that the next edition of the journal will throw up some unexpected beauties and I look forward to being as surprised as you as to where we find them.

The post The AG Journey: From the design desk appeared first on Australian Geographic.

The AG Society has been a proud supporter of Australian Age of Dinosaurs (AAOD) for a few years now, in fact AAOD are a great example of all the things that the AG Society can do.

First we had a fundraiser to “Free Wade” one of Winton’s biggest dinosaurs from his home in the iron stone of Central Queensland. Over $15000 was raised to help buy equipment to establish the AAOD Prep Shed on the property of David and Judy Elliott.

Then in late 2006 Dave & Judy were awarded the AG Society Conservationist of the Year Award, for their outstanding contributions to the preservation of Australia’s natural history.
 
With the formation of the new AAOD company we used some of our annual sponsorship budget to become one of the first ever Corporate Foundation members of Australian Age of Dinosaurs Ltd.
 
Congratulations to all involved with the AAOD project from all of us here at AG. We wish you all the success in the world with the project.

AAOD have just launched their new website where you can find out all about their project. Just head to the website.

Or take a look at what AG had to say about the dinosaurs of QLD back in 2006.

It includes some crazy comments from some lass from Sydney that you might recognise!
 

The post If I wasn’t at AG I’d be digging dinosaurs… appeared first on Australian Geographic.

To my delight they include the wonderful Wolbachia project that I
mentioned last week on the blog. Katherine Barry from Macquarie Uni in
Sydney will be studying the Wolbachia bacteria that creates… wait for
it… transvestite butterflies! You will find out more about this strange
and interesting creature in the next issue of Compass, and online.

We also have some Tassie trekkers,  a couple of conservationists from central Queensland and a truly amazing project that crosses the boundaries between the world’s most ancient life form and present day climate issues.

We had over 40 applications from all over the country and some difficult decision had to be made about which projects we could sponsor. Thanks to all of you out there who applied, it’s always great to read the amazing projects that Aussies are inspired to undertake. And don’t forget to keep subscribing, or tell your friends to subscribe to AG – a portion of AG profits go to help the Society continue its work supporting adventure, conservation, science and community projects. Just about every person in Australia is eligible for an Australian Geographic Society sponsorship so you just never know, the next person we sponsor could be you!

Check out our recent sponsorships!

The post The AG Society Blog: And the winner is…Wolbachia! appeared first on Australian Geographic.

It was my first site of little Wombalano and I was smitten. She was followed by her big sister Wyerigeru who watched me closely and was never quite convinced that I was a friend. At the sound of the camera shutter she would quickly scurry back into the mysterious burrow. Annie is not quite sure where the burrow leads, but is convinced that one morning she will come out to pull out some weeds in her expansive vegetable garden and will find the ground crumbling underneath her. But the wombats are happy, so Annie is happy!

Wombalano seemed quite comfortable with us being around. She happily tucked into the grass and sweet potato that Annie laid in front of her. A huge mound of grass, many times the size of the wombats, that we were assured would be consumed before the night was out.

It takes a lot of time and money to fend for a wombat. The grasses around Annie’s house are now scarce, so she is growing native grasses to prop up the wombats’ nightly feed. The weekly delivery of grass from the school kids at Darraweit Guim Primary school are an important addition to the wombat’s diet.

With five joeys, three wombats, a host of recovered birds that just won’t leave, Macca the cockatoo and the nightly visits from the local possum population, Annie certainly has her hands full. But the smile on her face when she is feeding the joeys tells me there isn’t anything else in the world she would rather be doing.

The post Wombat Watch: Week 4 appeared first on Australian Geographic.

Each image that we use in the Journal is carefully considered. Not only does it have to be aesthetically strong and visually alluring but it has to say something about Australia. We look for images that tell a story about the people, places and wildlife that live on this vast land mass, on its islands and in its oceans. We are lucky in Australia to be surrounded by such sweeping beauty, something that you can easily lose track of sitting on the 20th floor of a high-rise building in the middle of the Sydney CBD.

Researching images for the Journal is like looking through a window at Australia, and every day I travel vicariously to the places that feature in our stories. In the last few issues I’ve dug my toes into the white sand of the Whitsunday islands, tramped along the Heysen Trail, rocked with the currents of Currie Harbour in a King Island fishing boat and meandered down the main street of Dimboola.

For each image that we publish, there are many that we just can’t fit, and I am privileged to be able to peruse not only the images that are selected by our Art Department, but the scores of “overs” from both commissioned photography shoots and digital image libraries that don’t end up in the Journal. Our archives hold thousands of frames from some of Australia’s best photographers.

At the moment my day consists of scanning the magical underwater gardens of Lord Howe Island as photographed by Justin Gilligan and learning about some very tricky behaviour as I start putting together images for a very unusual story that we have planned for Issue 96…stay tuned!

The post The AG Journey: Picture this appeared first on Australian Geographic.

I’m often asked about the future and relevance of professional photojournalism in an age when everyone with a digital camera and internet access can become a publisher, where seemingly limitless quantities of images are available at the click of a mouse and where digital image manipulation raises questions of truth and credibility.

At Australian Geographic, we are committed to producing original work of length and depth. We commission many smaller articles nowadays so that we can produce quality short articles for the front section of the magazine. We love sending Australia’s brightest and best writers and photographers out yonder on those big field assignments and major projects that might take two or more years to put together.

We never let go of the principle of putting time and money into unearthing untold stories, giving our talented contributors the opportunities to get out there and uncover them, then fulfilling our part of the process by giving the words and photos the room they deserve on the page so that our readers have something fresh and original to look forward to every quarter.

In 2009,  there aren’t many other magazines around that still work in this way. It’s a fair question to ask if the photojournalist is at risk of becoming an endangered species – but I don’t believe so. The still photograph endures and when it’s the result of the skill and talent of the professional photojournalist; artistry, truth, journalistic instinct and courage, it still has the power to set the agenda, thrill, entertain, inform, shock, and influence opinion whether on the printed page or the screen.

Currently at Australian Geographic, we are excited about the opportunities that our bright, new website offers. The web provides us with unprecedented access to vast amounts of information and imagery, and we are discerning in what we want to look at. The web also gives us the opportunity for instant feedback and commentary.

From a photo point of view, our assignments produce hundreds and thousands of images of which only a small number are ever published. We look forward to bringing you many of those unseen images, and our next phase when you will be able to share your images with us.

The post The AG Journey: Picture of the future appeared first on Australian Geographic.

And have we got a surprise for them!

Today I sat down and nutted out the finer details of our exhibition booth which will see science take to the skies. The AG Society’s wonderful intern Jess Burt has been hard at work seeking permission from our adventurers to use some of their coolest equipment. Our aim is to show kids that science doesn’t have to be all lab coats and microscopes but can take you places neither you nor anyone else had ever dreamed!

We’re out to prove that without science Chris & Clark wouldn’t have made it across Victoria Island and Glenn & Heather would never have been able to attempt the world’s longest flight.

Over 50% of all of the Society’s funds goes to science and conservation projects around Australia. But without science our adventurers couldn’t succeed either.

As I said in my first blog, adventure is everywhere…but so is science!

For more information, check out the Science in the City website.

Whats next?
More AG Society Blogs.
More Society sponsorships.

The post The AG Society Blog: Science IS an adventure appeared first on Australian Geographic.

If you take a look at our appeal for the spotted quoll article, you will see a very interesting question from an avid reader, iheartquolls, who asks:

Hi AG, do the Quolls suffer from fox baiting in tas too?

It’s a great question, iheartquolls, but one that I didn’t think I was qualified to answer. So I took it to Shannon Troy, who will be in charge of the donations raised from our quoll appeal. Shannon’s response to this question is as follows:

“There has been concern in the past that 1080 baiting was causing quoll populations to decline, but there has been a lot of research in this area that has shown 1080 baiting is NOT linked with quoll population decline.

“1080 baiting is being carried out for foxes in Tasmania. Before starting my PhD I worked for the fox eradication program down here, and from that experience I know that 1080 is a hugely contentuous issue amongst stakeholders because of years of extensive indiscriminate use by forestry companies.

“It has now largely been phased out of forestry, but remains the only option for fox eradication in Tasmania. 1080 baiting being carried out for fox eradication is target specific; that is, baits are buried to minimise the chances of them being taken by native wildlife. In my experience, numerous Tasmanian landholders are even convinced 1080 is what caused devil facial tumour disease (this is lab tested untrue).”

We hope that answers your question, iheartquolls, and if anyone else has any queries, go ahead and challenge us! We dare you.

The post The AG Society Blog: Quoll questioning appeared first on Australian Geographic.

Finish collating stories for the October issue of Compass (with the help of our wonderful staff writer Bridget Brennan, we should have that one covered.)