When Amanda took a photo of a little brown spider sitting on top of her recycling bin, she had no idea she was about to leave her mark on the taxonomy of rare Australian spiders. If you think you need to go to the depths of the Amazon to find a new species, think […]
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Join the Bush Blitz Scavenger Hunt
This competition is now closed. Find out who won, and see some of their great observations, on our journal post in iNaturalist. To celebrate National Science Week, we have launched the Bush Blitz Scavenger Hunt as part of the Sydney Science Trail. Individuals, groups and schools from across Australia are encouraged to take part in […]
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Bush Blitz teams up with the Threatened Species Bake Off
This competition is now closed. Congratulations to the winner of the Bush Blitz Citizen Scientist Award – Nick Lambert. You can read about Nick on this Backyard Species Discovery journal post. The Bake Off commemorates Threatened Species Day on 7th September 2020 and aims to build awareness in the community about Australia’s remarkable and unique […]
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A new wasp species, with Alzheimer’s-fighting venom, may be lost to science due to bushfires
A recent WWF report has estimated almost 3 billion vertebrates have been impacted by the recent bushfires, but admits the lack of data makes it impossible to fully understand the impact on our invertebrates. The new species of spider wasp was collected from Namadgi National Park, during the ACT Bush Blitz in 2018, by CSIRO’s […]
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What does a taxonomist do?
Imagine if we didn’t have names. How would you refer to your favourite sports person or singer when you’re talking to your mates? How would you introduce yourself to someone when you’re on the phone? If your medical record didn’t have your name on it, your doctor wouldn’t know it was yours and might give […]
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There must be something in the water…
This competition is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered! Upload images of three aquatic (marine or freshwater) plants or animals to the Backyard Species Discovery project, and enter by 2 September 2020, for a chance to win a copy of ‘Marine plants of Australia’ by John M. Huisman, published December 2019. If you’re […]
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