Regional NSW: Koala detectives; science at sea; solar racers; wildflower wonders.

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Dozens of Science Week stories around regional NSW

  • Could you spot a koala? – They need you – Bermagui
  • Meet nature’s glue: the plants holding the ground together – Armidale
  • Saving lives at sea – the science behind marine rescue – Port Macquarie
  • Start your engines: 150 students race solar cars – Charlestown
  • What do you think is Australia’s most amazing wildflower? – online

More on these highlights below.

National Science Week in New South Wales is coordinated by Inspiring NSW. Visit their website: inspiringnsw.org.au.

For general National Science Week media enquiries, contact scienceweek@scienceinpublic.com.au.

National Science Week in Regional NSW: highlights

Could you spot a koala? – They need you – Bermagui

Spotting a koala sitting at the top of a gum tree can be pretty hard when you’re standing on the ground, but members of the Koala Action Network have a whole range of tricks to help, from high-tech acoustic monitoring to the very low tech (looking for koala poo).

Accurately counting koalas in the wild is crucial for efforts to help their populations regrow after devastating losses from bushfires and other threats, but conservation efforts across the South Coast are still held back by patchy or incomplete surveys. The Network will train you so you can learn to find koalas in your local area, log your sightings and be a citizen scientist, filling in the critical missing pieces.

Saturday 22 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/koalas-in-our-backyard/bermagui

Media enquiries: Tamlyn Magee, tamlyn.magee@icloud.com or 0411 101 168.

Meet nature’s glue: the plants holding the ground together – Armidale

University of New England botanists will set up a pop-up science stall at Armidale Farmers Markets, inviting visitors to become “seed detectives” and discover how plant roots act like nature’s glue, holding soil together and stopping it washing away.

The hands-on stall lets visitors examine a wide variety of Australian seeds – from ones that hitch a ride on animal fur to others that parachute through the air – and use interactive models to see soil erosion in action.

Real UNE botanists will be on hand to answer questions about how plants eat, breathe and survive, as part of the University’s Discovery Voyager outreach program.

Sunday 9 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/armidale-farmers-markets-pop-up-botany-science-stall/armidale

Media enquiries: Aaron Creamer, acreamer@une.edu.au or 0413 925 930.

Saving lives at sea – the science behind marine rescue – Port Macquarie

How do life-jackets fill up with air. How do emergency beacons know where you are, and where do flood waters like to go first. For the volunteers of Port Macquarie Marine Rescue, this is the science and technology they use to save lives.

The Marine Rescue team is throwing open their boat shed to explore high-tech equipment, high-stakes sea rescues and give some hands-on physics demonstrations (ie, how to tie a really, really good knot).

Saturday 15 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/the-science-behind-saving-lives-at-sea/port-macquarie

Media enquiries: Lilly De Belle, pr.portmacquarie@marinerescuensw.com.au or 0434 762 544.

Start your engines: 150 students race solar cars – Charlestown

Up to 150 students from 10 local schools will become clean energy engineers for a day at the Muswellbrook Solar Car STEM Challenge, hosted at the STEM Innovation Lab in the Donald Horne Building.

Working in teams, students will rotate through five hands-on stations: adjusting gears and solar panels on professional UNSW solar car models, exploring a mobile Net Zero Education Trailer, learning how “urban mining” recycles metals from old phones and gadgets, and sharing their views on clean energy in a quick survey.

Every participating school will take home Solar Engineering Kits so students can keep building and testing ahead of the Newcastle EV Challenge in September.

Friday 21 August. Event details: www.scienceweek.net.au/event/muswellbrook-future-foundries-solar-speed-and-circular-science/charlestown

Media enquiries: Peter Melling, Peter@aistem.au or 0490 101 501.

What do you think is Australia’s most amazing wildflower? – online

ABC Wildflowers

ABC Science wants Australians to discover our hidden “flower power”, the kind you find in botanical gardens rather than hippie communes.

With the help of experts, ABC Science has selected ten flowering plants from across the country.

Not just another banksia or waratah, but blooms from the unsung understory that also do something unbelievable. These ten wildflowers are more than just a pretty face; each one hides a surprising superpower. The public will decide which is the most amazing.

Voting to decide Australia’s most amazing wildflower will start just before National Science Week in August, with the winning bloom announced on Friday August 21 in a live broadcast on Radio National.

Wednesday 5 August – Friday 21 August. To find out more and vote, go to www.abc.net.au/wildflowers.

For interviews with Dr Ann Jones, contact Rob Caulley, ABC Publicity, Caulley.Rob@abc.net.au.

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