Devonport High School students participating in Where? Where? Wedgie! surveys. Photo: Andrea McQuitty.
Photo: Andrea McQuitty

“Fantastic. Loved it and would gladly participate again. Thanks so much for the hard work and organisation. It was great for my students to get a glimpse of science in action.”

Devonport High School students participating in the Where? Where? Wedgie! 2018 survey.

What is Nature­Trackers?

NatureTrackers is a program of citizen science projects, bringing together schools and the community to track the status of our threatened species and better understand their needs. It’s coordinated by the Bookend Trust, a not-for-profit founded in Tasmania in 2008, which inspires people of all ages and abilities to develop careers and interest in the environment, and to find positive solutions to environmental problems.

A woman wearing a down jacket and fleece headband smiles at the camera. She holds a smartphone and datasheets with one hand, while her other hand rests on her binoculars. Behind her are trees and, stretching off into the distance, a cloud-filled valley and mountains. Photo: Stephen Anstee.
Photo: Stephen Anstee

Our numbers so far…

  • 1483 Subscribed NatureTrackers
  • 846 Where? Where? Wedgie! app users
  • 0 Where? Where? Wedgie! : survey squares booked for 2+ days
  • Where? Where? Wedgie! : complete data uploaded for 2+ days
  • 55 Eagles tagged for research since
  • 276 Burrowing crayfish chimneys mapped since
Dora the Central North burrowing crayfish is beside the edge of her burrow’s ‘chimney’, on numerous sticky mud balls that she excavated to create her burrow. She is mid-brown, around 10 cm long, and has two large claws which have a granular surface, giving her her scientific name Engaeus granulatus. Photo: Clare Hawkins.
Photo: Clare Hawkins

What is a citizen scientist?

A potential, amateur, or professional scientist, often learning from and collaborating with others, volunteering their time to conduct scientific work.

Our projects

Where? Where? Wedgie!

Get your family and friends outdoors this May, to help monitor Tasmania’s birds of prey, white cockatoos and corellas — with a focus on our endangered wedge-tailed eagles. Are their numbers recovering, stable or still declining?

Close-up of a wedge-tailed eagle facing to the left of the picture, with out-of-focus vegetation in the background. The feathers of the nape of its neck, which are pale, indicating its young age, are ruffled up by the wind. Photo: Alfred Schulte, taken at Inala on Bruny Island.
Photo: Alfred Schulte, Inala, Bruny Island

Claws on the line

Spend a spring day — or your whole spring and summer! — helping map and monitor Tasmania’s burrowing crayfish colonies. Five threatened burrowing crayfish species live in northern and western Tasmania, and we’re starting out with a special focus on the endangered Central North burrowing crayfish, which is found nowhere else in the world except a small patch of northern Tasmania.

CallTrackers

Help monitor our noisy but elusive species across Tasmania! Between September and April, book a sound recorder and a nice spot to leave it for eight days; then upload the resulting data and start to discover which species are calling in the area. The initial focus is on a threatened bird — the Australasian bittern — and Tasmania’s eight resident bat species.

Close view of a family of three wedge-tailed eagles standing on dead branches of a tree, all facing to the left of the picture although one is looking towards the right. In the background, out of focus, is a stretch of water with a hill rising up behind them. Photo: Peter Vaughan.
Photo: Peter Vaughan

“It’s not only about wedgies. But also about all those other cool raptors out there and even corellas and sulphur-crested cockatoos. And, most importantly, it is about getting out and having fun while gathering really useful scientific data.”

Tamar NRM
Close-up of a wedge-tailed eagle alighting on a dead branch. In the background, out of focus, are grass, reeds and a little forest.Its wings are still outstretched. The pale feathers on the nape of its neck indicate that it is a young bird. Photo: Alfred Schulte, taken at Inala on Bruny Island.
Photo: Alfred Schulte, Inala, Bruny Island