Recipient organisation Project title Project description Grant amount (up to)
Museum Board Insect Investigators: Engaging the community in biodiversity discovery INSECT INVESTIGATORS will document and describe Australia’s insect diversity by engaging the public with the science of taxonomy. The project has dual aims: 1) fundamental scientific research on a critical component of our ecosystems, and 2) building awareness of taxonomic and ecological science in the community by engaging school students and regional communities in the process of documenting biodiversity, and in discovering, recognising and naming new species.

Schools and community groups will monitor a Malaise trap, which passively collects flying insects such as wasps and flies, and then partner with professional taxonomic scientists to document their local insect fauna, and to name new species collected in their traps.		 $479,554
Menzies School of Health Research Air in Alice: a community response to reduce future environmental risks Despite extreme heat conditions and frequent dust storms, remote inland Australia does not have adequate environmental monitoring. High temperature and particulate matter exposures have been linked to both increased mortality and morbidity in urban Australia. Evidence of potential impacts is scarce in remote Australia and this could be significant unmeasured and unmitigated contributor to the urban-remote health outcome disparity. This study uses a multi-pronged approach of crowdsourcing environmental data to create environmental awareness and develop community relevant adaptive solutions for Alice Springs residents. $499,323
Flinders University Citizen Science Passport to Recovery The Passport to Recovery is a toolbox of culturally significant citizen-science activities focused on bushfire recovery of Kangaroo Island. Citizens will be immersed in monitoring and evaluating restoration and recovery (Caring for Country) whilst following a Yarning trail map.
Flinders University’s Citizen Science Hub will support multiple connected projects enhancing the public’s understanding of climate change and the threats to biodiversity. It will also act as an incubator for future projects thus engaging more scientists to participate in citizen science.
This collaborative project between scientists, industry and government will provide direct benefits for supporting tourism, enhancing local economy and promoting policy change.		 $482,745
La Trobe University 1 Million Turtles - Conservation through community science and action 1MillionTurtles .com is a national citizen science project that will help us learn what is happening to Australia’s declining turtles. Australia faces catastrophic environmental change, including bushfires, droughts, and impacts of pest animals. Our project will uniquely empower citizen scientists (CS) to protect their own native wildlife. We will recruit CSs to the 1MillionTurtles.com program, which developed the TurtleSAT mobile phone app. We will use TurtleSAT and workshops to train CSs to scientifically collect critical wildlife data and protect turtles threatened by foxes and pigs. Outcomes include improved scientific literacy in Indigenous and regional communities and national assessments of the threats Australia’s animals face. $499,729
The Mulloon Institute Limited Modelling Landscape Rehydration for Catchments, Communities and Curriculum The degradation of Australia’s waterways has reduced our soil’s water-holding capacity, destroyed biodiversity and habitat, and weakened farming productivity. Catchment-scale landscape rehydration projects can reverse this damage, but are challenging to implement. In this project, physical and digital model-making will accelerate learning and catalyse cooperation in community settings. Citizen-scientists will co-create catchment models to transform the scientific fundamentals of landscape rehydration into tangible objects and tools. The project will generate resources that demystify landscape rehydration science, empowering communities to heal their water cycle and increase landscape resilience to natural disasters and climate volatility. $223,115
University of South Australia Living Lightly Locally: Smarter and Stronger through Citizen Science This project responds to the growing public appetite for meaningful change towards wellbeing, resilience and sustainability. Participants will engage in an adult education program that guides them to establish baseline environmental and social data and set SMART goals for improvement, then empowers them to effect change in their households, while reporting on progress toward goals. An online platform will be developed to deliver educational materials with a portal to upload data and share their journey. Key outcomes for policymakers and participants alike include crucial information on engagement with, effectiveness of, and barriers to, different actions at the individual and household scale, linked to demographic and geographic factors. $280,075
The Australian Wine Research Institute Yeast catchers: Fantastic yeasts and how to find them Yeasts and other fungi are vital to baking and brewing and the production of many pharmaceuticals and biofuels. Despite their utility, the extent of yeast diversity that exist within Australia is still largely untapped. New species and strains provide natural biological diversity that can create opportunities for future agricultural and food production and the transition to a bio-based economy. This project aims to engage citizen scientists to isolate yeasts endemic to Australia, while introducing real-world scientific research into Australian schools for the evaluation and application of their yeasts. In parallel, genomic sequencing will be used to identify isolates and analyse yeast species distributions across the country. $358,165
Perth Region NRM Inc Turning gardeners into conservationists: using gardens to conserve wildlife This project will address the impacts of urbanisation, a pervasive environmental change, on Australia’s native wildlife. Residents will be trained in wildlife survey techniques and collect data on wildlife using their gardens before and after the implementation of wildlife friendly features or actions. These data will contribute knowledge of the conservation value of residential gardens and wildlife friendly gardening. Participating residents will also contribute understanding of the value of urban conservation to human wellbeing within the urban landscape. This project will contribute valuable new knowledge in urban ecology, build community capacity to contribute to conservation and create a long-term fauna monitoring database in gardens. $448,136
University of the Sunshine Coast Bushfire resilience, fuelled by artificial intelligence and citizen science In the 2019-20 fire season, over 10 million ha burnt, destroying over 2000 homes. The cost to Australia was estimated to run into the billions and has had a devastating impact on the agriculture, forestry and tourism industries. There are currently limited resources to support accurate prediction and effective response to large-scale fire events. This project involves the design and implementation of NOBURN, a citizen scientist app to capture photo evidence of fuel-loads, dryness and structure of forests. Artificial intelligence tools will be used to predict the probability, severity and burn area of potential bushfires based on images submitted. The outcomes will assist in disaster resilience, preparedness and response to bushfires. $498,426
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