Snow gum and ghost gum close behind

National poll ranks Australia’s 33 favourite native trees

Over 265,000 votes cast throughout August

Media contacts: Laura Boland, laura@scienceinpublic.com.au,

0408 166 426; or Jane Watkins, jane@scienceinpublic.com.au,

0425 803 204

More about the winners at: www.abc.net.au/trees

Australians have chosen the river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) as their favourite native tree in ABC’s national poll.

“The river red gum is the perfect Australian tree. No two trees are the same, and each has its own personality. I love the way the twisted limbs, the gnarly hollows and dead wood, and all the scars and broken branches reflect a tough life but one well lived,” says Professor Tim Entwisle, botanist and Director and Chief Executive of Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria.

Flame tree, Moreton Bay fig and ghost gum remain among top 10

Take a stand and vote for your favourite in the final round

Ten trees are left in the search to find Australia’s favourite tree

Winning tree to be crowned on Friday

• Images available for media use
• See the Top 10 list and the trees that didn’t make the cut
• Quotes from tree experts for media use

Media contacts: Laura Boland, laura@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0408 166 426; or Jane Watkins, jane@scienceinpublic.com.au or 0425 803 204.

Australia’s top 10 trees have come in all shapes and sizes, from the slender mountain ash to the bulgy boab. They are found in a range of environments, from the river red gum of the inland waterways to the snow gum of the high country.

Across the nation, over 80,000 votes have been cast, as Australians picked their most loved native species in the second round of voting, awarding the top 10 most loved trees, including:

• golden wattle (Acacia pycnantha), which adorns Australia’s coat of arms and is currently in bloom 
• Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla), a mid-east coast native only pollinated by fig wasps
• river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis), which provides shade along inland waterways like the Murray-Darling catchment

Sunday 21 August 2022

Highlights from the final day of National Science Week

Researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country.

• VIC: Caring for the rare: meet the people saving Victoria’s species – online
• TAS: Community counts 2,000 years of Huon pine tree rings
• NSW: Step inside the Poo Palace – Newcastle
• ACT: Flying drones, engineering defence, art-robots, and biology balloons: meet the Canberra’s women of science and art
• ACT: Scientists take over shopping centres
• QLD: Feeding caterpillars to get butterflies – Kuranda
• Online with QLD talent: Explaining cancer biology to young people through pop-culture, art and augmented reality

Read on for more on these, including event contact details.

Saturday 20 August 2022

Highlights from the penultimate day of National Science Week

Researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country.

• SA: Tree scientist on the vital importance of the urban forest
• NSW: Dr Karl, dinosaurs, furry friends, and a T-Rex autopsy show: all on the Sydney Science Trail – Mt Annan and Sydney
• NSW: The Indigenous night sky, bush food, and technology – Redfern
• TAS: Plant-powered cars, Jurassic poop, the science of piracy, and more at Festival of Bright Ideas
• TAS: Bugs, bats, brains, and space junk: young scientists tour the Apple Isle
• VIC: Insect swarm or giant kinetic sculpture? Explore the swarm in an exhibition-cum-experiment
• WA: How to go green in a regional centre – Geraldton
• SA & WA: A band of physicists go on a road trip to explain quantum and dark matter – Adelaide on Saturday; WA next week

Read on for more on these, including event contact details.

Friday 19 August 2022

Highlights from day seven of National Science Week

Researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country.

• NSW: Fighting superbugs, big bad tech, cultural burning, and turning human waste into a valuable resource – Sydney Science Festival’s Friday highlights
• TAS: Beer quenches scientists’ thirst for knowledge – online and Hobart
• ACT: Flying drones, engineering defence, art-robots, and biology balloons: meet Canberra’s women of science and art
• SA: Alzheimer’s takes centre stage in acclaimed play – Adelaide, SA
• SA: Smaller, lighter, faster X-rays
• TAS: Plant-powered cars, Jurassic poop, the science of piracy, and more at Festival of Bright Ideas 2022
• TAS: Bugs, bats, brains, and space junk: young scientists tour Tasmania

Read on for more on these, including event contact details.

Thursday 18 August 2022

Highlights from day six of National Science Week

Researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country.

• VIC: Underwater spy-cams on the mysterious mass gatherings of great spider crabs – online
• ACT: What do experts make of the ‘science’ in Mars Attacks!?
• TAS: Three planet-saving physicists walk into a pub…
• SA: A band of physicists go on a road trip to explain quantum and dark matter
• VIC: Who wants to be an epidemiologist?
• WA: Astronomy superstar’s journey through space and time

Read on for more on these, including event contact details.  

Wednesday 17 August 2022

Highlights from day five of National Science Week

Researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country.

• NSW: Marie Curie, an inventor of a hair-sized endoscope, and France’s first female astronaut: a Powerhouse of women in science
• NT: An AI ‘Time Machine’ and a health lab on wheels – Gunyangara
• ACT: Flying drones, engineering defence, art-robots, and biology balloons: meet the women of science and art
• VIC: Misinformation puts the Q into 5G
• SA: Insect corn chips and roasted seaweed: what will you be eating in 2050? – online via Adelaide
• QLD: A bottled history of cures and quackery

Read on for more on these, including event contact details.

Also today:

• WA: Hot versus cold, the science of sound, and the birth of Planet Earth: at Scitech.
• TAS: Explore the Antarctic landscape in an exhibition and virtual reality film THIN ICE VR.

National Science Week 2022 runs from 13 to 21 August. Media kit at www.scienceinpublic.com.au. Or visit the National Science Week website for more events and activities: www.scienceweek.net.au.

ENVIRONMENT highlights from across Australia this National Science Week

• Caring for the rare: meet the people saving Victoria’s species – online via Parliament House, VIC
• How hydrogen could create jobs and cut carbon dioxide – Hawthorn, VIC
• Saving the planet by gardening underwater – Lake Macquarie and Sydney, NSW
• Tree scientist encourages gardeners to grow the urban forest – Adelaide, SA
• Feeding caterpillars to get butterflies – Kuranda, QLD
• Wattle vs Wollemi: what is Australia’s favourite tree? – online

More on these highlights below.

Tuesday 16 August 2022

Highlights from day four of National Science Week

Researchers, experts, and other interesting people available for interview around the country.  

• Online: NASA oceanographer asks what is the sound of colour?
• VIC: Moving images: how real is virtual reality?
• VIC: A band of physicists go on a road trip to explain quantum and dark matter – Bendigo today; Stawell tomorrow
• NSW: Dinosaurs, furry friends, and a T-Rex autopsy show: schools on the Sydney Science Trail
• Online: Explaining cancer biology to young people through pop-culture, art and augmented reality – Brisbane talent
• SA: Meteorites, sea creatures, bush tucker, and carp wars: science stories projected onto landmark buildings – multiple regional locations

Read on for more on these, including event contact details.

Also today:

• TAS: The treasures of Tassie’s dark skies with Ulverstone Planetarium principal astronomer
• NT: Take a sneak peek inside the Natural Science Collection storeroom at MAGNT