Western Sydney University Great BioBlitz 2024

Our first-ever Western Sydney University BioBlitz was a huge success! Running for one month, the event saw staff, students and community members come together as citizen scientists to uncover the hidden biodiversity across our campus network. With over 600 recordings and more than 350 unique species identified, the results are truly impressive. We awarded seven ‘Campus Champs’ for their outstanding number of contributions, and two additional awards were given to the coolest, most interesting photo taken. The data is being used to form a baseline and will help with the university's sustainability targets, including Carbon Positive and Nature Positive.

Campus Champs: Our top observers for each campus that participated:

Hawkesbury - Megshooter
Penrith - Kelpen
Parramatta South - Catherine1217
Parramatta City - Robiology
Campbelltown (joint winners) - Ashybashx and MrsP979
Nirimba - Miclikos

Out of all the photos received, two winners were selected by a panel of judges:

Miclikos for the photo of a ladybird on a dandelion at Nirimba campus, award 'most interesting'.
J_39499 for the photo of a Blue Tongue Lizard at Parramatta South campus, award 'coolest'.

While the official BioBlitz period has ended for 2024, our campus project teams remain open for you to use. Please feel free to continue to upload your data via iNaturalist.

Uncover your campus biodiversity.
Find your campus team.

How it works:

Download the free iNaturalist app (opens in a new window) on your phone.
Join your campus team (whether that is your home campus, or one you are visiting for the day).
Go exploring! Take a photo or video of any plants or animals you see on campus and upload it to the app.
Share your observations with the community, learn from experts, and refine your identification skills.
Contribute to science! Your data will be used to monitor baseline biodiversity and inform our Nature Positive efforts.

It's that simple! No prior experience is needed, and every observation counts. Whether you're a seasoned nature enthusiast or simply curious about your surroundings, everyone can join in.

What else can you do?

Follow us on social media and Viva Engaged (staff log in required) and use #WSUBiodiversity to share your discoveries and connect with other citizen scientists.
Look out for further information and events promoting citizen science projects just like this one.
Find out more about our current environmental commitments and targets (opens in a new window).

The 2024 Western Sydney Great BioBlitz is co-delivered by Sustainability Education and Partnerships (opens in a new window), Division of Operations and Commercial Environmental Sustainability (opens in a new window) team, the School of Science (opens in a new window), and the student-led Environmental Collective (opens in a new window), and supported by the international GISU Alliance.