NSWTR 2024 HR - Flipbook - Page 45
YEAR 7-8 SECTION
RIBBIT-ING STUFF
Dr Jodi Rowley is a conservation biologist who’s helping frogs
through a citizen science app.
J
AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM/SALTY DINGO
odi is based at the Australian Museum and the University of New South
Wales in Sydney. Her main focus is on amphibian diversity, ecology and
conservation. Through her research, she seeks to uncover and document
biodiversity and inform conservation decisions. She’s also the lead scientist
of FrogID, a national citizen science project that launched in 2017.
FrogID is an app that allows users to record frog calls that experts then
listen to and identify. The aim of the project is to gather data to make
conservation decisions for Australia’s frogs and to understand the impact
a changing environment has on them.
“The most exciting thing to me is the sheer volume of data [the app has
captured],” Jodi says. “It still blows my mind that we are reaching almost
1 million records of frogs in only six years.”
She says the biggest threat to frogs is habitat loss and modi昀椀cation, but
that disease, introduced species and, increasingly, climate change, are
also huge threats.
WHALE-Y GOOD TECH
Dr Vanessa Pirotta is a wildlife scientist who uses
technology for wildlife conservation.
VANESSA PIROTTA.
A
WATCH
WHAT “WHALE SNOT” TELLS US
ABOUT WHALES AND THE OCEAN
(TEDXMELBOURNE)
WATCH THIS VIDEO OF
VANESSA’S WORK
(ABC IVIEW)
SPECIES SURVIVAL – MORE THAN JUST SUSTAINABILITY
s part of her job, Vanessa works with whale snot!
“Whale snot can provide a snapshot of whale internal health,”
she says. “This can be used with measurements of whales such
as how long and wide they are. If you have enough samples from
the population, you may be able to better understand the health of a
whale population and compare samples over time.”
As Vanessa explains, tech plays a role, because drones can
measure whales from the air and collect their snot.
“In conjunction with drone experts, we have developed a lowcost system that incorporates a sterile petri dish with a remotely
operated and novel ‘昀氀ip lid’. This can be attached to a drone
along with a GoPro camera to sample whale blow with minimal
disturbance to the whales.” she says.
This means they have an uncontaminated sample that can then
go to the lab to be sequenced for the DNA – that is, using DNA
extraction and analysis techniques to get biological information
about the bacteria (microbiota) that live in the whale snot – all
without bothering the whale by taking a sample with a needle.
“Gathering baseline information of whale lung microbiota
provides a snapshot of health information from an animal that
is uncatchable. This means we will be better able to monitor the
health of recovering whale populations over time and look for
changes in their environment,” Vanessa explains.
Vanessa has also used a drone to capture whale snot from the
air! See the drone collect snot in a petri dish at 6’50” into the
TedX video in the link at left.
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