Nicole Gill’s new children’s book
Cyborg bees, weaponised goats, weed-sniffing dogs and an army of pest-exterminating wasps are just a few of the unexpected environmental defenders Nicole Gill discovered while researching her children’s book Animal Eco-Warriors.
An environmental scientist, Gill, 40, was working for Biosecurity Tasmania as the southern Tasmanian regional co-ordinator for invasive species when she wrote the book. Her career has often put her in direct contact with animals used to help protect the Tasmanian ecosystem.
“The best part of writing that book was the research,” she says. “I met so many people – passionate scientists and field researchers – and it was a great excuse to go on all sorts of adventures and field trips.”
The book covers animals from all parts of Australia with a vital role to play in environmental protection. While many of them are dogs trained to sniff out various threats, there are all sorts of other unexpected animals.
“In Antarctica, scientists are attaching little sensors to elephant seals as a way of taking measurements from underneath the ice, where it is very hard for humans to get to,” Gill says.
“And on Christmas Island the red crabs are being killed by an infestation of yellow crazy ants, which are an introduced pest forming supercolonies on the island. The crabs are vital to the health of the forest on the island. They help keep the understorey clear and, by thinning crab numbers, the ants are doing huge damage to the ecosystem. So a highly specialised species of wasp has been released on the island. It is tiny and only preys on one thing: a particular type of scale insect the ants rely on for sustenance, which was also introduced. By controlling the scale, hopefully the wasps will reduce ant numbers.”
Gill also met a herd of goats being used to eradicate a type of introduced weed by trampling and eating it as they graze and, of course, dogs that can be trained to sniff out anything from fruit to weeds, as well as a guard dog protecting a flock of little penguins on Middle Island in South Australia.
Working with the Glamorgan Spring Bay Council on a plan to eradicate tussock grass with the help of a weed-sniffing dog, Gill says she wants the book to reach schoolchildren around Australia to show them not only the importance of biosecurity and environmental protection but also to foster an interest in entering environmental science.
“The end of each chapter also has an extension section to let you know more about each project, what you can do to help, and so on,” she says.
Animal Eco-Warriors by Nicole Gill, CSIRO Publishing, $24.95