Lumen Winter 2023 - Flipbook - Page 30
Volunteers in the wild
The birds, bees, soil and trees
By Isaac Freeman
While volunteers may not be the first
thing that come to mind when you think
of the University of Adelaide, their work
can be found across all facets of daily life
on campus and beyond. With about 2,500
volunteers helping around the University,
their contributions are vital in providing
student and event support, library
assistance, outreach programs and sports
associations.
“Volunteers can be found in nearly every
pocket of the University and we certainly
couldn’t do what we do without their skills,
knowledge and generous contributions, “
says Kerry James, Senior Volunteer Program
Coordinator at the University.
But not all volunteers can be found
engaging in the day-to-day experiences on
campus - some can be found in far-flung
deserts, sifting through samples, while
others are aiding the creation of habitat and
biodiversity in our own backyard.
At the Waite campus, we find the arboretum,
a 27-hectare parcel of land which contains
unique corridors that have transformed into
a teeming haven for bees, butterflies and
birds. A generous donation in 2019 for a
memorial for a passed loved one allowed
Dr Kate Delaporte, Waite Arboretum
Curator, to propose the idea of creating a
biodiversity garden.
Together with Erica Boyle, Waite Arboretum
Officer and Volunteer Coordinator, they
envisioned the creation of a space that
would utilise native plants to attract more
wildlife to the area and provide education
for the public, local schools and University
students, thus forming the BB & B (Bee,
Butterfly and Bird) garden. In the five years
since its inception, there has been significant
change within the Arboretum.
With just a brief look at the BB & B garden,
you can see bees nestling into their five-star
suites at the Native Bee Hotel. Next door
are the architecture school-built tripods
providing a refuge for birds and butterflies
using host plants to spawn the next
generation of pollinators. The incredible
success rate of this ‘habitat corridor’ would
not be possible without regular weeding,
watering, marking and maintenance of the
gardens by volunteers.
One of these is Les, who graduated with
a degree in engineering at the University
in 1971, and has found himself back on
campus volunteering at the Arboretum.
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THE UNIVERSITY OF ADELAIDE
Les is one of the eight volunteers involved in
the development and maintenance of the BB
& B, and has been volunteering for nearly
two years, joining his brother-in-law to
expand the garden to its current 700
square metres.
TERN can achieve in the field what
many researchers lack the resources to
do themselves, by freely providing them
with data. However, you can’t obtain over
150,000 vegetation and soil samples without
logistics, staff and of course, volunteers.
“Sometimes in retirement, your life can just
become sedentary, but this gives you an
activity that helps, which is why we do it. We
don’t want money or thanks, we just want to
help,” says Les. In addition to their work, the
volunteers have a social outlet, often trading
friendly jabs, having coffee together and
learning about the space they care for.
With over 20,000 vegetation voucher
specimens requiring digital scanning, in
addition to field surveys at about 100 plots
across Australia, 2023 is a busy year. And
that’s only the beginning.
With land clearance and a lack of native
species in most backyards, Erica encourages
people to incorporate some native species,
providing through the arboretum website
a list of plants that can be used. “Even if
you have a garden full of exotic plants but
choose the right few native plants to improve
the habitat possibilities in some way - that’s
really good.”
To further educate the public and students,
Erica created an interactive map of the
arboretum BB & B garden that provides
information surrounding the species
used and the animals and insects that call
them home. Her efforts in creating this
educational tool won her the Faculty of
Sciences - Science Communication Prize
and her work was presented as part of the
7th Global Botanic Garden Congress held in
Melbourne in September 2022 - for which
she was also awarded the 2022 Professional
Staff Development Scholarship.
With a hub of volunteer activity occurring
within the Arboretum and Urrbrae House
gardens every Tuesday and Friday,
the majority of the volunteering for the
University would appear to be spoken
for. But just up the road a very different
type of work is being conducted involving
thousands of volunteer hours out in the field
spanning the entire country.
Ecosystem research
TERN (Terrestrial Ecosystem Research
Network) is based at the Waite campus
in the School of Biological Sciences. Its
primary work involves a national program
of standardised ecological field surveys and
the TERN Australia Soil and Herbarium
Collection, which provides academics both
nationally and internationally with crucial
data and samples for research across a
diversity of disciplines including climate
change, taxonomy and medicine.
“Whether it’s fieldwork or helping to
manage the data and samples by pressing
plants, curating and processing the soil
and vegetation samples - it’s all work
where volunteers can get involved,” says
Dr Katie Irvine, Community Partnerships
Coordinator at TERN. Volunteers include
current students, postgraduates, retirees,
and people working within the industry. The
field trips can be the most demanding and
rewarding parts of volunteering for TERN,
with two-week long stints, up to 12 hours a
day with an average of a plot a day. There’s a
lot involved in collecting soil and vegetation
data and samples across the country.
TERN plots are resurveyed every 5 - 10
years to measure changes in the
environment. More recently TERN
received funding to undergo a post bushfire
survey, revisiting sites they already had data
on to compare the changes in the aftermath
of the Black Summer bushfires.
The value of data and information collected
by TERN’s staff and volunteers has resulted
in numerous findings around the world.
For example, samples provided to the
NSW government were instrumental in
identifying new species diversity in golden
everlasting paper daisies. And scientists
from Rockefeller University in New York
discovered important medicines and
agricultural chemicals in the biological
compounds of TERN’s soil samples.
As the collection of data and samples
continues, so do the opportunities for
discovery and a better understanding
of our environment.
BB&B Garden map and plant list:
adelaide.edu.au/waite-historic/waitearboretum/bee-butterfly-and-bird-gardenbbb
Isaac Freeman is Communications Assistant
for the University of Adelaide.
