| Overall Rating | Gold |
|---|---|
| Overall Score | 68.44 |
| Liaison | William Van Ausdal |
| Submission Date | July 9, 2024 |
Flinders University
IL-69: Innovation E
| Status | Score | Responsible Party |
|---|---|---|
|
1.00 / 1.00 |
Name of the innovative outcome, program, or initiative:
Does the innovation represent a new, extraordinary, unique, ground-breaking, or uncommon outcome, program, or initiative that addresses a sustainability challenge and is not covered by an existing credit?:
Narrative and/or website URL providing an overview of the innovation:
This is a large multi-year program, led by Flinders University in collaboration with the Australian Government, SeaLink, the Kangaroo Island Council, the Kangaroo Island Tourism Alliance and the Kangaroo Island Koala and Wildlife Rescue Centre. It started in 2021 to support Kangaroo Island (KI) with the recovery from the 2019 bushfires and has since then developed into a comprehensive series of conservation and ecology citizen science projects in collaboration with the local community.
Visitors and locals are invited to download an app on their phones that contains multiple projects (currently 15) that they can participate in. One example is the Dirty Boots project, which invites tourists to take a small soil sample from their shoes for analysis by experts from Flinders University. This targets sighting and reporting evidence of a small plant pathogen called phytophthora. Phytophthora dieback disease can spread easily and affects crops and susceptible plants that would be important habitat for animals and insects. “The aim of this project is to engage citizen scientists to take part in activities to provide us with data so we can generate far more information about the impact of this plant pathogen, both on native plants and crops,” says environmental health expert Professor Kirstin Ross. “We’re also pleased to be able to show people, of any age, how to be citizen scientists and find out how much fun and enjoyable science actually is.”
Other examples of projects are Koala Compass (monitoring of koala movement), Reef Rewind (monitoring growth of a new artificial reef for native shellfish), Sea Lion Stakeout (to assess the impact of eco-tourism on the endangered Australian Sea Lion at Seal Bay), Smart Nest (monitoring native bees), My Island Footprint and more. The app is a vital part of data collection from across Kangaroo Island for future conservation efforts.
The project has seen input from a large number of Flinders University students in various roles ranging from logo design, event management, video creation and on the ground support.
Main URL: https://www.passport2recovery.au/about
Other URLs:
https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2022/12/14/ki-citizen-science-callout-for-summer/
https://www.passport2recovery.au/
https://www.facebook.com/passport2recovery/
https://news.flinders.edu.au/blog/2024/05/01/kangaroo-island-bushfire-recovery-hits-the-water/
Optional documentation
Additional documentation for this credit:
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