CITIZEN SCIENCE PROGRAMS

The #BlueCarbonArmy is a citizen science program and immersive experience aimed at educating community members into the value of coastal wetlands, while contributing to Blue Carbon research.

The Mission

This citizen science program aims to educate and empower community members into the value of coastal wetlands, while contributing to coastal blue carbon research. While participants receive an immersive experience into climate change science and the magic of coastal wetlands, scientists increase their sampling effort and advance blue carbon research.

The citizen science days start with educational talks where participants are introduced to topics of coastal wetlands, ecosystem services and climate change. Then, citizen scientists travel to local wetlands and support scientists with data collections activities in the field (e.g., collection of soil cores, surveys of coastal vegetation etc.). Data is used by national and international researchers to better understand Blue Carbon dynamics and coastal systems.

Carbon Coring

Cores of wetland soil are collected and used to quantify carbon stocks and accumulation rates across sites

Plant surveys

Biomass surveys of mangrove and saltmarsh species are used to quantify aboveground carbon stocks

TeaComposition H2O

Litter / tea decomposition is used to determine the ability of different wetlands to sequester carbon

Microbial Soil Sampling

Analysis of soil samples indicates which microbes are associated to high and low carbon preservation

Survey research

Multiple surveys test if education & immersive experiences can change attitudes towards wetlands

Our Citizen Science programs

Corporate

The HSBC program engaged over 300 corporate staff into coastal wetland research in Sydney, Melbourne, and Auckland. This 2-year program (2018-2020) fueled 7 research projects and was funded by HSBC in partnership with Earthwatch Australia.

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Community & schools

Across a range of locations nationally and internationally, our citizen science programs aim to empower local communities with new knowledge about the environment and climate change while protecting and restoring native ecosystems and cultural heritage.

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Industry

The GeelongPort Citizen Science program is a 2-year initiative started in 2022, which aims at connecting the GeelongPort community to coastal ecosystems and climate change research, whilst advancing Australia’s blue carbon science and saltmarsh restoration.

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