For more than 40 years, Tom Clarke has been on the front line of shorebird conservation in the Hunter estuary, NSW. One of the most significant migratory shorebird habitats in the world.

In this episode, Tom joins Dani to talk about decades of hands-on restoration work with the Hunter Bird Observers Club, the alarming decline in shorebird numbers over the past 20 years, and the mangrove-clearing program that's brought birds back to sites they'd long abandoned.

Tom also shares how the club navigated early conflict with the fishing industry, the surprising conservation wins for threatened beach-nesting birds, and what volunteers are doing to prepare for the arrival of avian influenza on Australian shores.

Plus, a look ahead to the Australasian Shorebird Conference, coming to Newcastle in September 2026.

More Information

https://www.hboc.org.au/

Far Eastern Curlew Photo Credit: Rod Warnock (2017)

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There are an estimated **3,000* shipwrecks still undiscovered on Australia's ocean floor and up to 300 of them could be sitting in a single 3km stretch off Newcastle, NSW.

In this episode, host Sarah sits down with Dr James Hunter, Manager of Maritime Archaeology at the Australian National Maritime Museum, for a deep dive into the science, history and heartbreak of shipwreck discovery. James takes us from a candle that survived 136 years inside a Civil War submarine, to the commercial salvage operation that gutted the war grave of HMAS Perth, to his own long-held theory that a centuries-old Spanish or Portuguese wreck may still be hiding in the Torres Strait.

Along the way, James explains how everyday divers, boaters and beachgoers are already helping professional archaeologists find, monitor and protect these underwater time capsules and exactly what to do if you ever stumble across one yourself.

In This Episode

• How maritime archaeologists search for wrecks in shallow and deep water

• the identification of Captain Cook's HMB Endeavour

• the extraordinary preservation of the H.L. Hunley submarine

• why human interference is more destructive than nature

• treating wrecks as gravesites

• the rise of 3D photogrammetry

• how to get trained as a citizen maritime archaeologist

• and the undiscovered wreck James hopes someone finds next.

More Information

https://www.citizen-science-reisen.de/en/marine-archaeology

https://www.aima-underwater.org.au/shop/category/courses

https://www.sunken.media/

https://www.girtsd.org/

Books

Citizen Science in Maritime Archaeology: The Power of Public Engagement

edited by Della A. Scott-Ireton, Jennifer E. Jones, Jason T. Raupp

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What if the thing we most need to conserve isn't a place, but darkness itself?

In this episode, Sarah speaks with Grant Salmond, Education and Astronomy Manager at the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum, about how the small Queensland town of Winton became one of only eight internationally accredited Dark Sky places in Australia.

Grant explains how a plague of insects led to a town-wide lighting overhaul, how the Gondwana Stars Observatory links the fossil record to the night sky, and how the First Nations "Dark Emu" constellation has guided seasonal knowledge for tens of thousands of years.

Along the way: citizen science through Globe at Night, an opera performed beneath the stars, and a simple lightbulb swap that could help bring the stars back to your own backyard.

More Information

Dark sky international - https://darksky.org/

https://www.australianageofdinosaurs.com/

https://www.winton.qld.gov.au/Community/Dark-Sky-Community

https://globeatnight.org/

https://australasiandarkskyalliance.org/

https://www.scienceweek.net.au/

https://darksky.org/what-we-do/events/dark-sky-week/

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This July, Australia goes on a fungi hunt. In this episode, Dani sits down with Dr Michael Priest, president of Fungimap, to explore the hidden kingdom beneath our feet.

With an estimated 50,000 fungal species across Australia, and only 10% of them named. Michael explains why the Great Aussie Fungi Hunt needs citizen scientists more than ever.

From mycorrhizal partnerships and the "wood wide web" to introduced species threatening native fungi and the truffle-dependent diet of the potoroo, this conversation is a crash course in why fungi matter and how anyone with a phone camera can help map them.

Tune in to learn how to get involved, what to photograph, and why you really shouldn't eat what you find.

More Information

https://fungimap.org.au/

https://www.facebook.com/fungimap

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Ninety-nine point nine percent of Earth’s species have gone extinct, but their stories are still being uncovered, sometimes by everyday people.

In this episode, host Sarah sits down with Sabrina Ricci of the I Know Dino podcast to explore how citizen scientists keep rewriting the dinosaur record.

From “Teen Rex,” a juvenile T. rex found by a hiking family in North Dakota, to the recent scientific resolution of the Nanotyrannus debate, Sabrina shares the discoveries reshaping paleontology right now.

They also dig into mummified Edmontosaurus fossils revealing soft tissue crests and hooves, what Earth’s five mass extinctions can teach us about today’s biodiversity crisis, and where listeners, including here in Australia, can join real fossil digs themselves.

Plus: why future civilizations might think chickens ruled the world.

More Information

https://iknowdino.com/dinosaur-museums/ (Dinosaur museums near you)

https://dinosaurpictures.org/ancient-earth#66 (What Earth looked like at different points in time)

https://www.morphosource.org/ (Check out Dinosaur fossils in 3D)

https://paleobiodb.org/navigator/ (To learn about specific fossils)

https://www.ualberta.ca/en/admissions-programs/online-courses/dino101/index.html (To get an introduction to dinosaurs)

https://www.patreon.com/cw/iknowdino (To join the I Know Dino Patreon and support some awesome creators)

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We are always looking for more guests to tell us about interesting citizen science projects, research and events.

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Could the mosquitoes in your backyard be helping stop the next outbreak?

In this episode, Dani sits down with medical entomologist Brian Montgomery and mosquito genomics expert Dr Gordana Rašić to talk about Zika Mozzie Seeker, a ten-year citizen science project that’s helped keep south east Queensland free of Zika and dengue-carrying mosquitoes.

They dig into how genome mapping is turning backyard egg collections into powerful tools for predicting mosquito invasions, the new Mozzie SHIELDS project linking ports, schools and communities, and why “zero” might be the most exciting number in public health.

Mosquito Image Credit: Sam Dickinson

https://inaturalist.ala.org.au/people/dickinsonsg

More Information

https://www.metrosouth.health.qld.gov.au/about-us/get-involved/zika-mozzie-seeker-citizen-science-project

https://www.qimrb.edu.au/mozzieshields

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Contact the Show

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After a number of shark bites on Australian beaches, the calls for a cull are growing louder. But does killing sharks actually make us safer?

Marine ecologist Dr Jessica Meeuwig (UWA) joins Sarah Han-de-Beaux to separate fact from fear with the data:

Why Hawaii's 1950s cull of over 5,000 sharks did nothing to reduce bites.

Why Western Australia's $1.3 million drumline program caught zero white sharks.

Why “shark numbers are exploding” is biologically impossible.

Jessica unpacks the real ecological role sharks play, from protecting coral reefs to keeping seagrass beds intact, and lays out the evidence-based alternatives actually proven to reduce risk: drones, citizen science spotter programs, deterrent technology and serious investment in research.

A clear-eyed, compassionate, and urgently needed conversation for anyone who loves the ocean.

More Information

http://www.meeuwig.org/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bMn7RuW3Qc

https://sharkspotters.org.za/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysa5OBhXz-Q

https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/management/wolf.htm

https://www.aims.gov.au/information-centre/news-and-stories/sharks-increase-reef-resilience? 

https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/conl.12185

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We are always looking for more guests to tell us about interesting citizen science projects, research and events.

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A leopard shark in a Dubai aquarium gave birth without ever meeting a male. That moment of virgin birth, parthenogenesis, kicked off a remarkable career for Dr David Robinson, now owner of Sundive in Byron Bay and a researcher of leopard sharks at the world-renowned Julian Rocks.

In this episode, David takes us from curating Dubai's first aquarium to rehabilitating over 1,800 sea turtles, discovering one of the world's largest whale shark aggregations off Qatar (thanks to a sick turtle named Pearl), and finally landing, almost by accident, in one of the only places on Earth where leopard sharks still gather in healthy numbers.

We talk genetic curiosities, record-breaking turtle migrations, shark mating behaviour caught on camera for the first time, and why citizen scientists with cameras are doing some of the most important work in marine research today.

More Information

https://www.sundive.com.au/

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/120106-virgin-birth-shark-dubai-science

https://www.sharkbook.ai/

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What happens when a weatherman trades the studio for the bush? In this episode, Dani talks with Graham Creed – former ABC weather presenter and author of The Weatherman Goes Bush – about a life shaped by science, community, and a deep love of the natural world.

Graham shares the journey from watching Cyclone Tracy on the news as a nine-year-old in Melbourne, to twenty-one years as a broadcast meteorologist, to a tree change on a flower farm near Stroud, NSW. He talks proteas, platypus, and the unexpected flourishing of native bees after Varroa wiped out his thirteen honeybee hives.

But this episode is as much about community as it is about the land. Graham co-founded the Stroud Community River Care Group, working to restore Mill Creek in the Karuah River catchment – pulling invasive weeds, replanting riparian vegetation, detecting platypus with environmental DNA, and building an indigenous history walk in a town celebrating its 200th European anniversary.

He also takes us inside the world of weather modelling – from AI tools that predicted the 2025 Taree floods days ahead of every other model, to a CSIRO/Bureau of Meteorology tool that can tell you what your local climate will feel like in 90 years. And in a town that broke a 135-year rainfall record in 2025 before swinging straight into drought, those tools feel more urgent than ever.

This is a story about observation, adaptation, and finding hope in the people quietly doing good work that rarely makes the news.

More Information

https://www.grahamcreed.com.au/about

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Sydney's iconic White's seahorse is in trouble. Habitat loss has pushed this endemic species, found nowhere else on Earth onto Australia's endangered list.

But at the Sydney Institute of Marine Science, marine scientist Mitch Brennan and his team are fighting back with one of the most charming solutions in conservation: the seahorse hotel.

In this episode, Mitch explains how these metal reef structures work, why male seahorses give birth, and how a three-pronged strategy of captive breeding, artificial habitat, and natural restoration is giving White's seahorses a fighting chance in Sydney Harbour.

He also shares how school kids are designing their own hotels, complete with rope disco balls, and how you can contribute sightings from your next dive to help monitor these incredible animals.

If you've ever wanted to check in to a seahorse hotel, this is the episode for you.

Get Involed

Sydney Seahorse Project: https://sims.org.au/research/flagship-programs/the-gamay-initiative/project2-4-5/

Project Humble School Group: https://projecthumble.com.au/

Hong Kong Seahorse Project: https://www.lcf.gov.hk/filemanager/content/conservation/RE-2024-07-ENG.pdf

Handfish Project: https://handfish.org.au/

NSW DPIRD logging: https://www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/species-protection/report-a-threatened-species-form

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It really helps us to reach more citizen scientists, like you.

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You can email us at: [email protected]

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.