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Acoustic monitoring is an essential tool used by Flow-MER researchers to track and study a wide range of animals from waterbirds and turtles to fish and frogs.
Tune into our next Flow-MER webinar to learn more about acoustic monitoring and its benefits, and how it is being used to study waterbirds (including the endangered Australasian bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus)), fish and turtles as part of the Flow-MER Program.
This is a non-technical webinar. It is suitable for a wide range of audiences, including members of the public interested in the study of wildlife; anglers or bird observers interested in how fish and bird populations are studied; and high school students interested in a career in environmental science.
Please note the below is a guide only.
12-12.05 pm - Associate Professor Kate Brandis, UNSW
Welcome, agenda, question and answer approach
12.05-12.15 pm - Associate Professor Kate Brandis, UNSW
About acoustic monitoring of wildlife - its benefits and complementary uses with on-ground monitoring, what information can be gathered, what types of animals it can be used for and the different techniques
12.15-12.25 pm - Dr Jennifer Spencer, NSW DCCEEW
How acoustic monitoring is used to study waterbirds – why acoustic monitoring is so useful for studying waterbirds, particularly hard-to-find and cryptic species, what the information tells us and outcomes so far in its use studying the Australasian bittern as part of the Flow-MER program.
12.25-12.35 pm - Jerom Stocks, NSW DPIRD
How acoustic monitoring is used for native fish tracking – how and what fish are tagged and tracked using the Macquarie River and Marshes acoustic array, what the information tells us and Flow-MER program outcomes so far.
12.35-12.45 pm - Associate Professor Kate Brandis, UNSW
How acoustic monitoring is used for native turtle tracking - how and what turtles are tagged and tracked using the Macquarie River and Marshes acoustic array, what the information tells us and Flow-MER program outcomes so far.
12.45-1 pm – Question and answer time
Associate Professor Kate Brandis is the Flow-MER Waterbird Lead for the Lower Balonne Area-scale Project and Co-Lead for the Macquarie River & Marshes and Murrumbidgee Area-scale Projects. Kate is an internationally recognised applied ecologist with more than 25 years of experience researching the waterbirds, wetlands and river systems of the Murray–Darling Basin in eastern Australia. She has led significant scientific advances in waterbird ecology and movement, environmental flow management, environmental water policy, monitoring, evaluation and research, and the application of remote sensing technologies to waterbird studies. As a leading Australian expert in environmental water management with an international reputation, Kate provides the scientific evidence that underpins informed water management and policy decisions to achieve positive environmental outcomes. Her strategic and applied research has directly influenced on-ground management practices through close collaboration with environmental water managers, policymakers and stakeholders. Over the past decade, Kate has also established a nationally significant research program in wildlife forensics to help combat the illegal wildlife trade. By adapting and advancing innovative technologies from other disciplines, she has developed practical, cost-effective and scientifically robust methods for determining the provenance of captured wildlife, supporting conservation and law enforcement efforts.
Dr Jennifer Spencer is the Flow-MER Waterbird Lead for the Mid-Murray Area-scale Project and Co-Lead for the Macquarie River & Marshes, Lower Balonne, Lachlan and Murrumbidgee Area-scale Projects. Jennifer has more than 15 years of experience as a scientist with the NSW Government, specialising in environmental water monitoring, evaluation and research (MER) across the Murray–Darling Basin. She completed her PhD in 2010, focusing on migratory shorebird ecology in the Hunter Estuary, and has worked on waterbird projects in the NSW Murray–Darling Basin since 2007. Her work includes providing expert scientific advice to support NSW and Commonwealth environmental water management programs. Jennifer leads a team in the Water and Wetlands Team, in the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, delivering monitoring projects that assess and report on waterbird responses to environmental water in major floodplain wetlands. She currently leads waterbird monitoring, evaluation and reporting for the NSW Water for the Environment program and contributes to threatened waterbird and frog conservation projects through the NSW Saving Our Species program. As a Visiting Fellow with the Centre for Ecosystem Science at UNSW Sydney and the Agriculture, Water and Environment Institute at Charles Sturt University, Jennifer contributes to collaborative waterbird research projects and supervises postgraduate students.
Dr Jerom Stocks is the Fish Co-Lead for the Flow-MER Macquarie River & Marshes Area-scale Project and Fisheries Scientist with the NSW Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development (NSW DPIRD). Jerom has extensive expertise in both marine and freshwater ecosystem research, with a particular focus on fish ecology in the Murray–Darling Basin. Jerom currently works for NSW DPIRD’s Freshwater Ecosystems Research Group. He has extensive experience in flow-ecology relationships, fish community responses to environmental watering, and river rehabilitation through modification of the operation of dams. His research focuses on fish community responses to environmental watering in the Murray-Darling Basin. Through collaborations with ecologists, natural resource managers and the community, Dr Stocks contributes to improved water management in the Murray-Darling Basin.