Outreach: Nature is in crisis. Here are 10 easy ways you can make a difference

Australia’s rarest butterfly, the Australian fritillary. Garry Sankowsky, Author provided Last month, Sir David Attenborough called on United Kingdom residents to “go wild once per week”. By this, he meant taking actions which help rather than harm the natural world, such as planting wildflowers for bees and eating more plant-based foods. Australia should follow suit. We love our […]

ICON team members head across the Pacific

For a while it seemed as if travel was a thing of the past – workshops, conferences and meetings all pivoted online. Whilst this was great for our collective carbon footprint, it perhaps stymied creativity. Meeting virtually doesn’t fulfill the same functions as a face-to-face chat at a conference, where the informal gatherings are often […]

PhD Opportunity: Beyond green facades – integrating natural ecologies and the built environment

PhD Advertisement Title: Beyond green facades – integrating natural ecologies and the built environment Description: This PhD challenges the status quo of ‘green’ architecture by addressing critical research gaps in the fields of natural ecology and the built environment to develop ecologically-driven architectural/landscape/urban design. By integrating ecological knowledge and understanding, designers can produce urban environments […]

PhD Opportunity: Nature as medicine: can a dose of the outdoors cure loneliness?

PhD Advertisement: Nature as medicine: can a dose of the outdoors cure loneliness? Description: This PhD is part of an NHMRC/European Commission funded project exploring the benefits of prescribing nature-based social activities to reduce loneliness and improve mental health. The project aims to better understand the effects of green space and biodiversity on loneliness and […]

From ‘day of the species’ to ‘protecting species every day’

In April, I attended an art exhibition that helps people visualize the biodiversity crisis in Australia. ‘Day of the Species’ is a community art project with contributions from 200+ artists. As a contributing artist, you get to learn about and draw Australian biodiversity under protection by the EPBC Act. As a viewer, you can see […]

Outreach: I want my vote to count for nature: how do the major parties stack up?

Sarah Bekessy, RMIT University and Brendan Wintle, The University of Melbourne The animals and plants at risk of extinction finally made it onto the political agenda last week, as Labor and the Greens launched biodiversity policies ahead of the federal election. Labor’s policies included new funding for the Great Barrier Reef and long-term commitments for […]