2026 sessions:Ngiyambandigay Wajaarr Aboriginal Corporation Sea Rangers
Introduction to Aboriginal connection to Sea Country and traditional seasonal calendar. Adrienne Gooden – Marine science 101 Extended weekend session. Connection building between students, facilitators and volunteers. Growth of basic marine science concepts that will be explored throughout the program Stephan Soule – Fish biology Provided an hands on fish biology workshop including fish dissection and sampling. Kate Simpson - Scientific illustration Explore the world of scientific illustration. Using shells, urchins, coral and seaweed students learnt how to accurately draw and annotate natural specimens. Tiga Cross - Coffs Coast Wildlife Sanctuary Provided hands on experience caring for rescued turtles including shell cleaning, labelling and measurements. Discussed turtle care, science and rehabilitation. Kirstin Hoel - Fisheries and whales Explored whale engagements in fishing gear and ways to reduce risks to the whales. Students designed their own fishing gear to reduce whale entanglement but allow fishers to fish. 2025 sessions:Dr Sophia Ellis – Coral Research
Introduced students to coral identification and guided them in designing their own shade-based coral experiments. Adrienne Gooden – Sharks & Tagging Taught shark ecology and tagging methods, including hands-on practice with scientific suturing techniques. Dr Kate Graham – BRUV (Baited Remote Underwater Video) Showed how BRUVs are used to study fish communities. Students annotated and counted fish using real BRUV footage. Taylor Bratton – Marine Protected Areas Led students in designing their own Marine Protected Area, considering stakeholders, communities, conservation, and economics. Stephan Soule – Aquaculture Provided an inside look at aquaculture and tour through the National Marine Science Centre and Solitary Islands Aquarium. Adrienne Gooden & Taylor Bratton – Rocky Shore Research Guided students in developing questions and running their own rocky shore research project. Dr Barbara Wueringer – Sawfish Shared her expert knowledge on all things sawfish and facilitated genetic sampling using sawfish rostra. |
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