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National Science Week 2024

To celebrate National Science Week 2024, the CSIRO and the National Koala Monitoring Program delivered a nation-wide campaign to educate Australians about koala biology, conservation, and how they can help support koala research.

This year’s National Science Week theme "Species Survival - More than just sustainability" highlighted the crucial role of science and innovation in the survival of our nation’s threatened species. This was the ideal theme for the NKMP to share our work and achievements.

Four men look at brochures from a stall staffed by a girl in a koala hat
Sydney Zoo hosted the Young Indigenous STEM stall

Throughout National Science Week, the NKMP delivered a diverse mix of events and materials to spread the word about the program, discuss the current status of koalas, and demonstrate the many tools we use to find and count koalas, such as drones, visual surveys, and detection dogs. Most importantly, we worked hard to boost awareness of our citizen science app, Koala Spotter, and encourage everyone to contribute to the NKMP koala sightings database!

Highlights from the week include:

  • A webinar hosted by NKMP scientists at the CSIRO for schools (years 4 to 6). The webinar was attended by over 6400 children across the nation, making it the most popular webinar event of CSIRO's 2024 National Science Week. Students were engaged and enthusiastic, asking fantastic questions about koala research and ecology.
  • Over 22 radio and TV interviews about the NKMP with local, national and international media outlets. The coverage reached an audience of two million people!
  • NKMP scientists with the CSIRO participated in National Science Week events at Sydney Zoo, speaking to over 100 visitors about the NKMP and helping them sign up for the app.
Three children watch as Dr Hoskins uses a phone
Dr Andrew Hoskins demonstrating how to use the koala Spotter app

Educational campaigns such as this are essential to the continued success of the NKMP. We need as many different eyes as possible our helping us look for Koalas to paint the most accurate picture of koala numbers and distribution across the country. Prior to National Science Week, awareness of the app had been low. Following our large campaign, the number of Koala Spotter app users increased by 62%, reaching 1300. We will continue to promote the app at events across the country and on social media to increase our reach and grow our national database.

Dr Monroe sits at a display and high-fives one of three children attending
Dr Sam Munroe participated in the Young Indigenous STEM stall at Sydney Zoo for National Science Week