Citizen Science Show

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"...

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...

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 backyar...

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 sha...

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, discover...

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 mete...

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 struc...

What if you could save a plant from extinction and have it flowering in your garden within eighteen months? In this episode, Dani sits down with Helen Howard, horticulturist and nursery manager at the Hunter Region Botanic Gardens in NSW, to explore the remarkable world of plant grafting. With over thirty years of experience and a career that spans Ireland, England, and across Australia, Helen has...

What does it actually take to save a whale? Not the twenty-second clip you see on the news — the full story, from the Sunday afternoon phone call through to the night run home in the dark, 22 kilometres south of where you started. In this episode of the Citizen Science Show, host Sarah Han-de-Beaux sits down with Adam and Amelie from Forster Dive Centre on the NSW mid coast — a couple who have tur...

He was practically born in a nest. At just 22 years old, Ziggy Gow-Webb has spent his entire life surrounded by birds of prey at Raptor Refuge in Kettering, Tasmania — the facility his father, Craig Webb, built from the ground up over 26 years. In this special short episode of the Citizen Science Show, host Dani Lloyd-Prichard sits down with Ziggy to hear his story: what it's like to grow up among...

What does it take to rescue, rehabilitate, and release Tasmania's most powerful birds of prey for 27 years, with no government support? In this episode of the Citizen Science Show, host Dani Lloyd-Prichard sits down with Craig Webb, founder of Raptor Refuge in Kettering, Tasmania, and recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia. Craig shares the unlikely story of how a backpacking trip up the...

They cool our streets, shelter our wildlife, boost our property values, and quietly keep us sane. So why are we cutting them down for $500? Dr. Greg Moore has spent nearly six decades championing urban trees — as a researcher, as principal of Melbourne's Burnley College, and as one of Australia's most respected voices in arboriculture. In this episode, he makes the case that trees aren't a nice-to...

A two-week holiday. A chance dive. A career that would take her from the reefs of Thailand to the laboratories of Sydney — and back underwater again. Dr. Jen Matthews is a coral scientist on a mission: to understand, feed, and defend reef ecosystems at a time when they need it most. In this episode, she takes us from the unexpected coral frontier emerging in Sydney Harbour, to the Great Barrier Re...

For more than three decades, Graeme Sawyer has been one of the Northern Territory’s most recognisable voices in citizen science and environmental education. A former Lord Mayor of Darwin and founder of Frogwatch NT, Graeme has spent much of his life connecting people — especially children — with the wildlife of the Top End. But alongside the wonder of frogs, wetlands and night walks has come anoth...

At just fifteen years old, Spencer Hitchen has become one of Australia’s most recognisable young conservation voices — not through political slogans or social media trends, but through patient observation, powerful photography, and an unwavering commitment to protecting nature. From the Wallum woodlands of Noosa on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, Spencer has transformed a childhood fascination with g...

Scientists map the ocean’s most critical shark and ray habitats in a race against extinction Marine conservationists around the world are racing to identify the ocean habitats most critical to the survival of sharks and rays before it is too late. At the centre of that effort is the Important Shark and Ray Areas (ISRA) project, a global initiative led through the International Union for Conservati...

A pioneering team blends science, technology and community action to protect one of the world’s most threatened animal groups—amid growing pressure from development. In the forests of New South Wales, a quiet crisis is unfolding—one that scientists say is pushing some of Australia’s most unique frog species to the brink. At the centre of the response is a team of researchers working across laborat...

A Life That Grew Into Trees For Mark Cashmore, a career in arboriculture was not a lifelong plan but a gradual evolution. After years of varied work—including teaching English overseas—he discovered tree climbing through weekend work. What began as a practical skill quickly revealed itself as an entry point into a complex and deeply engaging field. Arboriculture is far more than cutting and prunin...

A grassroots vision beneath the waves In a quiet corner of Sydney’s coastline, a chain links more than just concrete anchors—it connects community, conservation, and curiosity. Beneath the surface of Gordon’s Bay lies one of Australia’s most distinctive citizen-led marine projects: an underwater nature trail built not by institutions, but by passionate divers. For Sam Baxter, the ocean has long be...

A National Push for Participation As April unfolds, Australians are being called to step outside, look closer, and contribute to something far bigger than themselves. Citizen Science Month, a global initiative encouraging public involvement in scientific research, is gaining momentum locally—with an ambitious national goal of 100,000 recorded “acts of science.” For Dr Jessie Oliver, Technical Mana...

The tension between humans and the wild extends far beyond landscapes, reaching into culture, psychology, and identity. What begins as a discussion about large carnivores evolves into a broader reflection on how humanity chooses to coexist with nature. Jonny Hanson's interest in large carnivores began in childhood, particularly with big cats. Over time, that fascination expanded into a deeper enga...

The Enigma of the Great Spider Crab Australia’s great spider crab is hard to miss. With a leg span reaching up to a metre, these arthropods gather in extraordinary numbers along the seafloor. Each winter, tens of thousands converge in Port Phillip Bay in a phenomenon that has featured in global documentaries. Yet, as Elodie Camprasse discovered, scientific understanding of the species is surprisin...

In 2008, the scientific community believed there was only one species of manta ray. That assumption quickly shifted when new research identified a second species, and more recently, a third. These are not small or hidden creatures—they are enormous animals, some stretching up to seven meters across—yet for years they remained largely misunderstood. One of the most powerful tools used to study them...

Bron Powell has spent years paddling through the winding channels of the Macquarie Marshes, drawn again and again to the raw wildness of the wetlands. The turning point came during the floods between 2020 and 2022, when the Marshes burst into life. What had always been a special place suddenly became extraordinary. Guiding a group of birdwatchers through the flooded landscape, Bron watched birdlif...

Matt West has spent much of his life wading through the cold mountain streams of northeast Victoria in search of a frog few Australians will ever encounter. The spotted tree frog, Litoria spenceri, is small enough to sit on a thumb, yet its survival has become one of the most complex conservation challenges in the country. The spotted tree frog inhabits granite boulder streams stretching from Lake...