Citizen Science: how anyone, and everyone, can help our waterways
- comms514
- Apr 1
- 6 min read
For citizen science month, we’re highlighting how you can get involved and make a difference across the Healthy Waters Partnership.
As much as scientists would love to spend their days in the field collecting data, they can’t be everywhere at once. That’s where citizen scientists come in.
Citizen science gets the community involved to help gather data and contribute to research. Whether it’s snapping photos, collecting rubbish or even analysing data, every bit helps. The more data scientists have, the better we understand our environment to drive meaningful outcomes.
Executive Officer of the Healthy Waters Partnership, Kara-Mae Coulter-Atkins says there are plenty of ways for the Townsville community to get involved and become citizen scientists.
“Our Partners offer volunteers an opportunity to connect with nature, improve the health of our rivers, creeks and coasts, and in some cases, contribute to our annual Waterways Report Card.”
Citizen science is crucial for many local projects, making it possible to track and improve the health of our waterways, at a scale that researchers alone could never manage.
“We’re proud of our Townsville community, who roll up their sleeves, get involved and make a tangible impact. The collective action is invaluable. The citizen scientists, the researchers, and the health of our precious waterways benefit.”
So, what are you waiting for? Grab a camera, join an event and start making a difference by helping our Partners through these citizen science gigs.
Fin-formation with iNaturalist
In the age of smart phones, most of us always have a camera on hand, putting citizen science in the palm of our hands, literally.
So, when you snap a pic of a crab or a flower, log your sighting on iNaturalist, a global database of observations.
Using iNaturalist is simple.
Take a photo making sure the image is clear and focused.
Upload it to iNaturalist.
Add some info: date, time, and location.
And ta-da! Your observation will be visible to the iNaturalist community, where other naturalists will help verify the ID. This powers up your sighting to “research grade” status, making it an official part of biodiversity research. It can also be shared with other online databases, including the Atlas of Living Australia.
Our partner, Reef Ecologic, has been a strong contributor to the iNaturalist community. They’ve logged thousands of fish observations, growing our understanding of the marine life on Townsville’s doorstep.
Many fascinating details can be gleaned. Data may show how reef communities change over time. Or it may reveal that some fish species swim further north or south than we knew. Every sighting can contribute to biodiversity science, helping scientists understand when and where marine life occurs.
Whether you’re a garden guru, fish whisperer, or twitcher, make your observations count.
Keeping watch on your local creek with Creekwatch
OzFish Unlimited keep tabs on the health of waterways in the Ross basin as part of their partnership with Townsville City Council and the Creekwatch program. This is where citizen scientists come in. Creekwatch empowers the community to take an active role in looking after their favourite waterway.
Every week, volunteers can get involved to help monitor the health of rivers and creeks around Townsville. Here’s a peek at how you can help:
Collect and catalogue waterbugs. Healthy creeks are full of life. These critters tell us a lot about the water’s health, as some can handle a bit of pollution while others need pollution-free water to thrive.
Trap and count fish species. How many native vs non-native fish species are in a river is a key indicator of its health. Invasive species like tilapia throw the delicate balance of an ecosystem out of whack.
Checking water quality. You can assess water quality by looking at things like nutrient levels. Too many nutrients lead to algal blooms, which can starve aquatic life of oxygen. Too few nutrients can prevent important aquatic life from growing.
All the data collected at Creekwatch activities helps to better manage Townsville’s waterways and improve habitat for fish.
Learn new skills, meet like-minded people and get involved to look after your favourite waterway. See which creek, Creekwatch are monitoring next.
Collect litter to collect data for the Australia Marine Debris Initiative Database
Litter has passed through a person’s hands at some point. Now, it gets picked up by citizen scientists and turned into valuable data.
Whether you’re a beach clean-up regular or it’s your first time, you can join Tangaroa Blue Foundation to help tackle trash around Townsville’s rivers, creeks and coasts, and collect data at the same time.
The data gets added to the southern hemisphere’s largest database for plastic pollution, the Australian Marine Debris Initiative (AMDI) Database, a treasure trove of data that helps Tangaroa Blue pinpoint marine debris hot spots and stop rubbish at its source.
The data collected by clean-up volunteers is a key driver for decision-making at both the state and federal levels. It’s contributed to plastic bag bans and the nationwide containers for change program, helping to reduce plastic pollution and shape a cleaner future for our waterways.
But it doesn’t stop there. This is also one of two citizen science programs, whose data is used for the Partnership’s annual Waterways Report Card. The data helps calculate litter grades, which are based on how much ‘pressure’ the local environment is under from pollution.
Collect litter, collect data and make a positive difference for our rivers, creeks, coasts and ocean.
ReefClean events are funded by the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and delivered by Tangaroa Blue Foundation.
Dive in and give the reef a health check
A worldwide squad of trained citizen scientists dive in and monitor reef health.
By joining Reef Check Australia’s hands-on reef monitoring efforts, you’ll be collecting valuable data on how our local reefs are faring, including coral condition, fish populations and environmental impacts. This data is then used to track reef changes, support research, and help guide important conservation work. It’s also included in the annual Waterways Report Card.
For those who prefer to stay dry, Reef Check also run beach clean-ups to remove and reduce litter from our shores. Everything you collect is counted and the results fed into Tangaroa Blue’s Australian Marine Debris Initiative Database, helping to track and reduce pollution.
So, whether you're a diver or simply an ocean lover, there’s a way for you to get involved, meet like-minded ocean advocates and contribute to meaningful, positive action.
(By diving in, you also get to explore the beauty of our local reefs!)
A ‘shore’ thing to get snapping for
Our coastlines are constantly shifting, with the movement of water shaping sand dunes and beaches that are crucial to our turtle-y awesome wildlife. For sea turtles, these coastal areas are vital nesting grounds, and changes on shore can make all the difference to their survival.
On Magnetic Island, a local hotspot for turtle nesting, Envite Environment have been leading a coastal restoration program at Nelly Bay to improve nesting conditions and help reduce the impacts of climate change on our coastlines. Here’s where you come in!
Locals are invited to snap photos of the shoreline at a designated CoastSnap Monitoring Station and upload the photo to the CoastSnap database. Your pictures will track how the island’s coastline changes over time, helping scientists map the shoreline and forecast how it may change in the future.
The CoastSnap Monitoring Stations are due to be installed soon, with one overlooking Geoffrey Bay and the other, Nelly Bay. So, keep an eye out for them, have your camera ready, and be part of community efforts to protect our precious coastlines and turtle nesting hotspots!
The project is a community initiative led by Envite Environment in collaboration with MINT, Townsville City Council and Queensland Parks and Wildlife. It is funded by the partnership between the Australia Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation under the Climate Accelerator Grant and also supported by Port of Townsville Limited.
There are plenty of other ways you can get involved and play your part in the health of waterways across the Townsville Dry Tropics. Check out the volunteer opportunities, and
Dig in to creek restoration with Coastal Dry Tropics Landcare Inc. Trees, mangroves, shrubs and grasses can be a waterway’s best defense against runoff and erosion. Planting, weeding and protecting waterside vegetation is key.
Bag a bag of litter with TIDY Up Townsville. Litter is a cumulative and collective challenge. Let’s show our waters the love and fight back against local litter and dumping.
Find community and be heard with North Queensland Conservation Council. NQCC are the voice for the environment in North Queensland, but they’re your voice too. They'll listen to your concerns, share insights and connect you with meaningful ways to take action on sustainability, nature protection, climate change and the energy transition.
