Hunter residents are invited to document the bushfire recovery of plants, animals and fungi across three bushfire affected regions of the state.
The Big Bushfire BioBlitz starting on February 25 is a series of weekend-long events which will generate new evidence on the impacts of large-scale fire on biodiversity.
The BioBlitzes will give people the opportunity to contribute meaningful biodiversity data that inform knowledge of how the environment recovers after large scale bushfires.
"A 'bioblitz' is a focused effort to record as many species as possible in a defined location within a limited period of time," Thomas Mesaglio from the UNSW Evolution & Ecology Research Centre, said
"Citizen science events such as bioblitzes provide an invaluable opportunity to maximise the amount of data collection, intensely focusing on particular areas, as well allowing people of all skill levels to be involved.
"Participants get to interact with and learn from experts, and also offer their own local expertise and insights to the experts, so it's a fantastic two-way transfer of knowledge.
"These events are also great for motivating participants to become long-term contributors to citizen science platforms such as iNaturalist."
Experts - including from one of the partner scientific organisations, the Australian Museum - will lead biodiversity events over the weekends.
The bioblitzes are supported through the Australian government's Regional Bushfire Recovery Fund and UNSW's Centre for Ecosystem Science, in partnership with the Atlas of Living Australia, Minderoo's Fire and Flood Resilience Initiative and the Australian Citizen Science Association.
Register at: Big Bushfire
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