The event will take place in the Fernhill Escarpment, a significant ecological bush area that backs onto the Ōtehā campus, with the goal to identify and record as many species of plants and animals as possible within an assigned time frame.
The purpose of a BioBlitz is to provide an opportunity for scientists and the community to come together to learn more about the biodiversity surrounding them. These educational events have taken place across the globe for the last three decades, with the first event in Aotearoa New Zealand occurring in 2004.
The Friday event, held on 3 March from 12:30pm to 3pm, will host local schools, providing students with a new way to engage with their science curriculum and have a go at being a conservation scientist for the day. The Saturday event will run from 8am to 10pm and encourages families and the public to discover and learn more about the plants and animals that live in the Fernhill Escarpment bush.
Senior Lecturer in Zoology and Ecology Dr Anne Wignall is the leading academic behind the event. She says the event is the perfect opportunity for Albany locals to learn more about their backyard.
“This will be the first BioBlitz that we will host and it is an exciting opportunity for our community to come together, have some fun and learn from each other. It is also a way for us to engage our tamariki and inspire future conservation scientists. The results from the BioBlitz will form the foundation for research and restoration plans on the bush site. We hope that it will be the first of many events connecting Massey with the wider community as we work to explore and preserve our unique flora and fauna.”
What’s on?
The event will include guided walks through the bush, with a night walk on Saturday evening to encounter nocturnal species. Science experts will be providing talks throughout the day, including how to set up and use tracking tunnels, interpreting results from the tracking tunnels and how to use environmental DNA, or eDNA, to identify living things that have passed through the area.
An introduction to the free iNaturalist app will be given which will be used to document the species observed throughout the event.
From the bush to the lab, Massey science experts will explain what will happen with the BioBlitz data collected and what eDNA can be used for, as well as answer any questions from budding conservationists and citizen scientists.
There will also be face painting and bouncy castles on campus for tamariki to enjoy, as well as food trucks to keep everyone fuelled as they explore the Albany terrain.
Head to Eventbrite to register your attendance.
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