FrogID: People-powered Frog Conservation
Saturday, March 1
11:30am – 12:15pm
Blue Mountains Planetary Health Centre
33-39 Acacia Street Katoomba
In conjunction with the Planetary Health Centre’s Frogs of the Blue Mountains exhibition on Planetary Health Day, Britt Mitchell will share her experience as a frog call validator for the Australian Museum’s FrogID project. She will discuss how FrogID has assisted her PhD research: “Australia’s frog species in the Anthropocene – habitat loss, climate change, behaviour, and disease”, the positive impact FrogID is making and how to get involved.
Australia is home to an incredible diversity of frogs found nowhere else on Earth. In the Blue Mountains, unique species like the threatened Giant Burrowing Frog (Heleioporus australiacus) and the recently discovered Screaming Tree Frog (Litoria quiritatus) face serious threats to their survival. To protect them, we need to better understand where they live and how their populations are faring. With the free FrogID app by the Australian Museum, anyone with a smartphone can help by recording and submitting frog calls for conservation.
In this presentation, we’ll explore why frogs are vital indicators of a healthy environment and show you how using FrogID can make a real difference. By contributing your frog calls via FrogID, you’ll join thousands of citizen scientists across Australia in helping to map and monitor frog populations, including those in the unique ecosystems of the Blue Mountains.
With the data obtained through FrogID the Museum is able to track introduced species and identify where frogs are thriving and where they aren’t. And by matching calls to weather and habitat, they are learning more about how different frog species are responding to a changing environment.
View the exhibition of all the Frogs of the Blue Mountains, and listen to their calls. Then discover how to become a citizen scientist with FrogID, as well as what we can do to protect these extraordinary amphibians.
About Britt Mitchell:
Britt Mitchell is a conservation biologist at the Australian Museum and UNSW Sydney. Having recently submitted her PhD, her research focuses on how frogs are responding to anthropogenic (human-induced) change, in particular climate change and urbanisation. To answer these questions, Britt leverages data from multiple sources – from in the field, museum collections, and citizen science datasets like FrogID.
Britt is also a committed science communicator, keen on engaging the wider public with scientific research. She has been involved in teaching and outreach initiatives at the University of Sydney, University of Wollongong, UNSW Sydney, the Australian Museum and the Botanic Gardens of Sydney.
Image above:
- Britt Mitchell
- Limnodynastes peronii (Striped Marsh Frog), photograph courtesy of Dr Jodi Rowley, Australian Museum
About this event
We all need a Planetary Health Day!
Visit the Blue Mountains Planetary Health Centre on Saturday 1 March for a day of fun and inspiration with live music, plant-based food, talks, tours, demonstrations, workshops, stalls and a Frogs of the Blue Mountains exhibition.
There’ll even be a ping pong tournament, giant chess and an opportunity for all ages to get hands-on experience doing Bushcare!
You’ll discover ways to save money, to reduce the risk of disaster, to ID frogs and to restore the health of our communities and our planet!
Scroll down for our timetable of speakers and music performances, list of stallholders and demonstrations and details of participants in our Plant Based Food Market.
EXHIBITION:
Frogs of the Blue Mountains Exhibition: see photographs of all the known frogs of the Blue Mountains and listen to their calls with the Australian Museum’s Frog ID app.
SPEAKERS:
9am
Frank Inzitari from Fire Halo (featured on Shark Tank): Will discuss his affordable and versatile invention that helps you clean your gutters while protecting your home from the threat of bushfire ember attack (video below)
9.20am
Liam Ramage, threatened species officer from the Blue Mountains Conservation Society on the unseen threat of concrete
9.30am
Mark Liebman, Engineer and Founder of Sustainability Workshop, will share the latest research on Bushfire Sprinkler Systems and then do a guided tour of our Water Demonstration Site, including the 150K litre underground water tank built on site as a demonstration of how we could collect stormwater at the end of flamezone streets around our City to reduce stormwater damage and protect against future fires.
10am
Opening and Acknowledgement of Country by Mayor Mark Greenhill
10.20am
Build Smarter: Karina Rafailov, founder of Earthy Haus and Kirstie Wulf from Shelter Building Design sharing How to Build Smarter using Passive House Design and natural building materials.11.20amWildplant Rescue on Rescuing Plants from Building Sites
11.30am
Brittany Mitchell, conservation biologist and FrogID validator at the Australian Museum, will share her experience of working on FrogID, and her research: “Australia’s frog species in the Anthropocene – habitat loss, climate change, behaviour, and disease”. She’ll show how anyone with a smartphone can use the Australian Museum’s free FrogID app to help protect the frogs of the Blue Mountains by submitting frog calls for conservation.
12.15pm
Physicist Professor Hans Coster on Life & Energy, Middle Earth & Nickel Iron Batteries … What now to protect our Biosphere?
1pm
Teya Brooks Pribac from PlantInspired: Plant based cheesemaking demonstration and tasting
LIVE MUSIC PROGRAM WITH BLUE MOUNTAINS FOLK
10am Ian Tanner and Rob Thompson
10.40am Skye Evans
11.20am We Are From Mars (Ant and Andy Mann)
12.00pm Max Dalkin
12.40pm Ellie P
1.25pm Gilberto Nova
WORKSHOPS:
- Upcycling Fashion with Sherlie McMillan (Bookings essential: Cost $10)
- Boomerang Bags: Make Your Own
Tour our Water Demonstration Site which includes how to build a frogpond, wicking beds, drip irrigation, domestic and underground water tanks for firefighting, a composting ‘cool seat’ and demonstration bushfire sprinkler systems.
PLANT BASED FOOD & REFRESHMENTS:
- Vegan NSW
- Lemonade and Cookbooks
- Plant Based Eatery: Thai Street Food
- Morley’s Recipes
- Secret Creek Cafe (cakes)
- Little HM Coffee Caravan
- Bibi’s Kitchen
STALLS & DEMONSTRATIONS:
- Michael Tricket demonstrating his mobile saw mill
- Earthrising Mushrooms (mushroom growkits)
- Blackheath Community Farm (garlic and seeds)
- Clifftop Harvest (fresh local produce)
- WIRES Blue Mountains
- Bushcare
- Permaculture Matters
- Blue Mountains Conservation Society (plants)
- Wildplant Rescue (plants)
- The Repair Network
- Katoomba RFS
- Fire Halo Fire Protection System
- Boomerang Bags
- Lacebrook Stitchery
GAMES & FUN ACTIVITIES:Ping pong and giant chess
Children’s art activity with Sarah Daniel from Kindle Hill
BUSHCARE:Check out our monthly Planetary Health Bushcare group from 1.30pm which is regenerating habitat for wildlife on the Planetary Health site. Find out how you can get involved.
- Parking is limited so please consider carpooling, catching a bus, walking or riding a bike to the event. The 686G leaves the Carrington at 8.30am and 8.55am and we will arrange lifts back to the station from the event.
Contact us via email: lbastian@bmcc.nsw.gov.au or ring 0407 437 553
