BioBlitz an opportunity to connect with nature on campus

The University of Otago’s Sustainability Office is encouraging tauira, kaimahi and the community to connect with nature when it hosts the first ‘BioBlitz’ event on its Ōtepoti Dunedin campus later this month.

Otago Tumuaki – Head of Sustainability Ray O’Brien says the BioBlitz on Friday, 24 April is an opportunity for the University community to take part in citizen science and learn more about the natural world around them.

Ray says that by downloading the iNaturalist app, BioBlitz participants can record biodiversity they encounter on campus – animals, plants and fungi.

“The way it works is you take a photo and upload it through the app. The app uses artificial intelligence to generate identification suggestions, which are then verified by an online community of experts and naturalists.

“It’s a great opportunity to connect with nature and increase your own knowledge of biodiversity, while also contributing to a global scientific resource." – Ray O’Brien

Ray says observations include geotagged, timestamped data, which – when confirmed by the community – become ‘research-grade’ data to assist with scientific, environmental and conservation research.

“It’s a great opportunity to connect with nature and increase your own knowledge of biodiversity, while also contributing to a global scientific resource. We want this event to become a highlight on our annual calendar,” he says.

As well as using the iNaturalist app to record biodiversity on campus, the Otago BioBlitz will include educational activities such as stream sampling, guided nature walks and a scavenger hunt.

Ray says he encourages all staff and students to take part, even if just for a short time.

“Kaimahi may wish to use the opportunity as a team-building exercise or individuals may just want to pop along during a lunch break. Whether you’ve got half a day or half an hour to spare, everyone is welcome,” he says.

The BioBlitz is being led by Tabitha Heaton, a Human Sciences student at the University of Exeter in Southwest England who is this year completing an industry placement at Otago’s Sustainability Office.

Tabitha was part of the organising committee for a BioBlitz event at Exeter in 2024.

She says an earlier BioBlitz at Exeter’s Penryn campus discovered a spider species previously unknown to science.

Later named Anasaitis milsesae, the 4mm jumping spider is related to other species known in the Caribbean, so probably arrived in the UK on imported plants.

“It would be amazing if something similar happened at the Otago BioBlitz,” Tabitha says.

“But even if it doesn’t, I’m sure people taking part will be pleasantly surprised at the biodiversity on offer here, and they may well discover pockets of Otago’s beautiful campus they haven’t previously explored.”

Tabitha has been collaborating with academics and postgraduate students from Zoology and Botany to plan the BioBlitz, which runs alongside the City Nature Challenge – a global urban BioBlitz taking place over the same weekend.

Her own interest in biodiversity was sparked as a youngster by birdwatching from her bedroom window in Brighton, England.

“I’d wait excitedly to see the return of the swifts every year, which returned from their epic migrations to nest on the roofs of houses opposite,” she says.

“As I’ve learnt more about the variety of life around us through my degree, and opportunities to take part in conservation initiatives, I’ve become inspired to study it further and help protect it.”

Last year, while searching for an opportunity to gain work experience, a family friend from Dunedin told Tabitha about the University of Otago and its interdisciplinary work in sustainability.

“The family friend put me in contact with Research Professor Janet Stephenson at Otago’s Centre for Sustainability Research who very kindly assisted me in finding this internship project that could build on my degree and previous experience.

“Dunedin is a very welcoming place to arrive to. The people I’ve met have been incredibly friendly and kind, and I’m in awe of the beaches, unique vegetation and wildlife in Otago. I feel very lucky to be spending these 10 months here and hope I can visit again in the future.”

Tabitha's longer term aspirations include increasing public engagement with the natural world, and making the environment a higher priority in public decision-making.

“I would really like to amplify protection of the environment – with citizen science as part of this – through working in conservation, environmental policy or law.

“I believe that engaging the public in science and nature is an important and powerful way to transform how the environment is viewed and therefore treated,” she says.

– Kōrero by Communications Advisory Service Manager Jamie Shaw