Wildlife, Cake & Cocktails

We sat down with Johanne Martens, PhD candidate studying the ecology and evolution of Beak and Feather Disease Virus (BFDV) in Australian parrots. She is currently at the Centre for Integrative Ecology at Deakin University in Geelong, Victoria. Over some Black Feather cocktails & hazelnut-chocolate slice, we discuss her early research in introduced Amazon parrots in Germany, avian disease ecology and epidemiology, and the impacts of Beak & Feather Disease Virus in Australia.

Follow Johanne on Twitter @johanne_martens, and check out @DeakinCIE for more ecological goodness 😊

We’re joined by Professor Sarah Legge, ecologist and threatened species biologist, professor at #ANU, Principal Research Fellow at #UQ, member of the #NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub, and co-author of “Cats In Australia - Companion and Killer” from CSIRO Publishing. Along with Black Cat cocktails and cheesecake, we discuss feral cats in Australia and, from her recent work, the impacts of domestic cats on native urban wildlife.

For more #TSR updates, follow @TSRHub on Twitter and @nespthreatenedspecies on Facebook.

Chris Sanderson is an Ecologist and PhD Candidate at the University of Queensland. He joined us to discuss butterflies, birds, threatened species, and IT, over Mexican Butterfly cocktails. Chris is studying how threatened species listings and legislation processes differ across the country, the impacts of data deficiency, and ways to improve these processes. He also works as a project officer on “Butterflies Australia”, a new citizen-science app for recording butterfly sightings and data, including a free digital field guide, and plenty of interesting features in development to explore butterfly data in map form. Check it out at Butterflies.org.au, or search “Butterflies Australia” on the Apple or Google App store  🦋

We’re out in the field with Chantelle “Chilli” Derez, PhD student studying urban snake ecology at the UQ Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, for the first #BrisbanePythonProjectBlitz! Chantelle is treasurer of the UQ Herpetological Society, a wildlife carer with Reptile Rehab QLD, and member of the SaveTheSnakes Advisory Committee. Her research is currently focussed on radio-tracking Carpet Pythons to understanding movement behaviour in natural and urban habitats. After discussing urban snake ecology, including issues with urban snake translocations and more, we join a group of keen herpetologists at a local wildlife reserve for the first #BrisbanePythonProject blitz, searching for more snakey-subjects for Chilli’s ongoing radio-tracking project.

Check out The Brisbane Python Project on Facebook @BrisbanePythonProject

Chantelle on Twitter & Facebook @ChantelleDerez

SaveTheSnakes @SaveTheSnakes and savethesnakes.org

UQ Herp Society on Twitter & Facebook @UQherp

Reptile Rehab QLD on Twitter & Facebook@ReptileRehabQld, or reptilerehabilitationqld.org/

We’re joined by Tamielle Brunt, PhD student at UQ studying the distribution and habitat requirements of Platypuses around South-East QLD. Tamielle has a passion for these amazing aquatic monotremes,engaging local communities in WildlifeQLD’s Platypus Watch programs since 2016. We discuss her PhD research, including eDNA monitoring to guide planning for the persistence of platypus populations, urban and naturalized habitat requirements, and much more, over Moon River cocktails and Mudcake!

Follow Tamielle on Twitter@tamiellebrunt and IG@platypus_protector.

Check out Platypus Watch at Wildlife.org.au/platypuswatch

New Research:

Richmond et al. 2018 A diverse suite of pharmaceuticals contaminates stream and riparian food webs. Nature Communications. 9.4491. DOI:10.1038/s41467-018-06822-w.

Asahara et al. '16. Comparative cranial morphology in living and extinct platypuses: Feeding behavior, electroreception, and loss of teeth. Science Advances. 2, 10. e1601329
DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1601329.

Carrick et al. 2019 Limitations on the use of historical and database sources to identify changes in distribution and abundance of the platypus. Response to A silent demise: Historical insights into population changes of the iconic platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus). Global Ecology and Conservation. 20:e00777. DOI: doi.org/10.1016/j.gecco.2019.e00777.

We’re talking all things spidery with Robert Whyte, arachnologist at Queensland Museum. Rob is a scientist, author, editor, photographer, and science communicator with a passion for Australian spiders. In 2017, along with images from Greg Anderson, he authored “A Field Guide to Spiders of Australia”, the most comprehensive account of Australian spiders ever produced. In 2018 he revived the AustralasianArachnologicalSociety.org website & newsletter. Rob has also been working with the BushBlitz biodiversity exploration programs since 2012 to find new spider species around the country. At last year’s Cooloola BioBlitz, he lead the spider team to discover 37 new species, with even more this year! As an advocate for #SciComm, he is currently producing and presenting the upcoming web-series #JoltScienceTV with Sandra Tuszynska. Rob is also an avid volunteer with habitat restoration projects such as SaveOurWaterwaysNow, and wrote “The Creek In Our Backyard: A practical guide for habitat restoration” now a 2nd expanded edition since 2013.

Follow Rob on Twitter @robertwhyte and Queensland Museum @qldmuseum

And watch for new episodes of #JoltScienceTV at JoltScience.com.au

With huge thanks to Avid Reader Bookshop in Brisbane’s West End, we were invited to have a discussion with the amazing Darryl Jones, Professor of Ecology at Griffith University, for the launch of his latest book, “Feeding The Birds At My Table – A Guide For Australia” from NewSouth Publishing. Prof. Darryl Jones is the Deputy Director of Griffith’s Environmental Futures Research Institute, working on understanding human-wildlife interactions. He’s the author of over 170 scientific articles and six books, including The Birds At My Table (2018) and now, the follow-up, Feeding The Birds At My Table (2019). The book is a not only an exploration of the challenges to safely and ethically feeding birds in your backyard, it’s also a practical guide for how to improve our bird feeding habits and practices here in Australia. We discuss bird feeding culture and research in Australia, ethical bird feeding problems and solutions, and much more. Join us for this fantastic launch event hosted by Avid Reader Bookshop!

Check out the link below to order the book today!

newsouthpublishing.com/articles/feeding-birds-your-table/

Follow Prof. Darryl Jones on Twitter @MagpiejonesD

Check out the happenings at Avid Reader on Twitter @AvidReader4101

We’re talking all things #Froggy with frog conservation scientists Alannah Filer, Debra Stark, and Callum McKercher! Alannah is a PhD student at the Uni of Queensland studying distribution mapping and bioacoustics in frogs, particularly the low pH specialized acid frogs. Debra, also at UQ, is involved in bioacoustic monitoring of acid frogs, education, and using technologies such as VR to bring students into the field. Callum is currently starting his PhD at Uni of New England, studying alpine wetland ecosystems near Armidale. With some Surfer-On-Acid cocktails and froggy cupcakes, we discuss monitoring the threatened Acid Frogs, bioacoustics, and much more!

Check out some of Alannah’s work at Rhodesconservation.com and SpatialEcology.com

Follow Debra on Twitter at @debra_93

Follow Callum on Instagram at @calsphotography12

We’re super exited to share some of the amazing conservation students and researchers from the 2019 Student Conference on Conservation Science in Brisbane, Australia! WCC was lucky to score an invite to attend some of the incredible student talks, plenary speakers, poster presentations, and we even managed a handful of special guest interviews (see below for segment times). In this first part, we share interviews with student poster presenters and special guest speakers.

With so many amazing student researchers and conservationists in various fields from across the world congregating at the Uni of Queensland for this conference, we barely scratched the surface and wish we had time for more. Nonetheless, we hope you enjoy these presentations and interviews from numerous conservation students across a broad swath of scientific disciplines, just a small sample of the breadth of knowledge and talent involved in biodiversity conservation around the world.

For more on #SCCSAus2019, check out SCCS-aus.org, Facebook@SCCSAus, and Twitter@SCCS_Aus

Segments as follows:

Prof. Bill Laurence            (3:50)    James Cook University

Prof. Sarah Bekessy         (27:23)  RMIT

Prof. Hugh Possingham  (37:19)   University of Queensland

Dr. April Reside                  (43:43)  University of Queensland

We're back on the WCC couch to talk Owl Conservation over some Sour Owl blackcurrant cocktails, along with muffins and macaroons! We're joined by wildlife photographer, naturalist, and owl conservationist, Matt Wright from Faunagraphic. Also, after some two years, we welcome back our first guest Jasmine Zelený, wildlife scientist, photographer, snake catcher, and owl fanatic.

We discuss Matt's background in raptor handling and rescue, how this developed into an interest in photography/wildlife tours, Australia's owl fauna, and eventually, owl conservation. We chat about Matt & Jasmines recent experiences in owling, assisting the Brisbane Powerful Owl Project, and much more. We also cover some fascinating new research in Australian owl fauna, articles below:

Bradsworth et al. 2017 Species distribution models derived from citizen science data predict the fine scale movements of owls in an urbanizing landscape. Biological Conservation. 213.

Uva et al. 2018 Comprehensive molecular phylogeny of barn owls and relatives (Family: Tytonidae), and their six major Pleistocene radiations. Molecular Phylogeny & Evolution. 125

You can find the Birds of the Night video and follow all the owl-y adventures at Faunagraphic.com.au, or on Facebook @Faunagraphic, and Instagram @_Faunagrpahic

Check out Birdlife.org.au or Ebird.org to get involved in Australian bird-based citizen science.
More WCC on the way! Cheers folks