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    • Blue Carbon
      • Seychelles Blue Carbon
      • Queensland Blue
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      • Western Australia Blue
      • Blue Carbon Management
      • Tea Composition H2O
    • Teal Carbon
      • Farm dams
      • Floating wetlands
      • Revitalising Australia’s Freshwater Wetlands
    • Valuing Ecosystem Services
      • Mapping Ocean Wealth
      • Guide to Valuing Coastal Wetlands
    • Ecosystem Restoration
      • Coastal Wetland Restoration
        • The Victorian Coastal Wetland Restoration Program
        • Restoring Avalon’s wetlands
        • Regenerating Our Coasts
        • Enabling Blue Carbon Markets
      • Kelp restoration
      • Freshwater Wetland Restoration
    • Citizen Science
      • HSBC citizen science
      • GeelongPort citizen science
    • Microplastics
    • Marine Biosecurity
    • Decommissioning Infrastructure
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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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Selected media

Updates from the field

  • #RegenOurCoasts: Two years of community efforts and exciting findings

    Citizen Science,#ReGenOurCoasts,Fieldwork,News / May 31, 2024

  • Seeds of change: Uniting communities for coastal restoration at the Boollam Boollam Willum Festival

    #ReGenOurCoasts,Citizen Science,Fieldwork / April 18, 2024

  • Wrapping up the 2023 #BlueCarbonArmy field campaign

    Citizen Science,GeelongPort / November 2, 2023

  • Corinella community rises to the challenge of Regenerating Our Coasts

    #ReGenOurCoasts,Citizen Science / November 2, 2023

  • Citizen Scientists hit the Gippsland Lakes to Restore Coastal Saltmarsh

    Citizen Science / October 13, 2023

  • Citizen Science Workshop 2023: Gippsland Wetland Restoration

    Citizen Science / August 23, 2023

  • The #BlueCarbonArmy surveys seasonal changes in saltmarsh bird and bug biodiversity

    Citizen Science,GeelongPort / August 1, 2023

  • Monitoring restoration responses for #ReGenOurCoasts

    Citizen Science,#ReGenOurCoasts / June 28, 2023

  • The #BlueCarbonArmy explores bird & bug biodiversity at Avalon saltponds

    Citizen Science,GeelongPort / April 3, 2023

  • Monitoring mangroves to measure success: highlights from a #ReGenOurCoasts citizen science day

    Citizen Science,#ReGenOurCoasts / March 29, 2023

  • Growing Outreach and Engagement to #ReGenOurCoasts

    Citizen Science,#ReGenOurCoasts / February 28, 2023

  • Protecting and Restoring an Urban Wetland: Truganina Wetlands Citizen Science Workshops

    Citizen Science / January 30, 2023

  • Invasive Manoeuvres: Citizen scientists assist with ongoing monitoring of Point Lillias, a threatened coastal grassland ecosystem with significant cultural heritage

    Citizen Science,VicWetlandRehab / July 28, 2022

  • Citizen scientists explore the carbon gains from coastal rehabilitation

    Citizen Science,GeelongPort,News / May 12, 2022

  • The #BlueCarbonArmy welcomes GeelongPort staff

    Citizen Science,GeelongPort,News / April 14, 2022

#BlueCarbonArmy

Follow the program on social media using #BlueCarbonArmy

Contact

Dr Maria Palacios

(maria.palacios@rmit.edu.au)

Blue Carbon Lab
  • Home
  • About
    • What we are about
    • Who we are
  • Research
    • Blue Carbon
      • Seychelles Blue Carbon
      • Queensland Blue
      • Victoria’s Blue Carbon
      • Western Australia Blue
      • Blue Carbon Management
      • Tea Composition H2O
    • Teal Carbon
      • Farm dams
      • Floating wetlands
      • Revitalising Australia’s Freshwater Wetlands
    • Valuing Ecosystem Services
      • Mapping Ocean Wealth
      • Guide to Valuing Coastal Wetlands
    • Ecosystem Restoration
      • Coastal Wetland Restoration
        • The Victorian Coastal Wetland Restoration Program
        • Restoring Avalon’s wetlands
        • Regenerating Our Coasts
        • Enabling Blue Carbon Markets
      • Kelp restoration
      • Freshwater Wetland Restoration
    • Citizen Science
      • HSBC citizen science
      • GeelongPort citizen science
    • Microplastics
    • Marine Biosecurity
    • Decommissioning Infrastructure
  • Publications
  • News
  • Opportunities
  • Contact
Blue Carbon Lab