Field notes
We’re catching up with some of our sponsorship recipients so you can see how your contributions help conserve our natural history and keep the Aussie spirit of adventure alive.
THE BRIDLED NAILTAIL wallaby has a wild population of fewer than 300 individuals and could become extinct in the wild. Jasmin Lawes, with University of New South Wales researchers, is evaluating the ‘nursery’ as a conservation strategy.They’re comparing the postrelease survival and behaviour of nursery-raised with wild-raised wallabies to determine the effects of prey naiveté (the instinct to avoid predators). Zoologist turned pilot Amellia Formby is currently in preparation for a 12,500km microlight flight from Australia to Siberia. By following the migratory route of the red-necked stint, Amellia aims to promote urgent action for Australian shorebirds, many of which are threatened by habitat loss. Learn more at wingthreads.com On 14 June, the day before her 16th birthday, Jade Hameister – AG’s 2016 Young Adventurer of the Year – once again entered the history books, this time as the youngest woman to complete the 550km traverse of Greenland unsupported and unassisted. For close to a month Jade dragged an 80kg sled on skis, facing ferocious winds, steep icefalls and the beginnings of frostbite. Conrad Hoskin and fellow researchers at James Cook University are investigating the evolutionary processes that generated Australia’s incredible diversity of lizards. By sampling geckos across remote northern Australia, from Cape York Peninsula to Broome, and by collecting ecological, morphological, physiological and genetic data, they hope to describe new lizard species. In the process, they expect to produce the largest comparative study of chemical traits ever conducted in vertebrates.