On The Beaton Track: June 2007

Travels & Treks

Besides Ryan Phillips in Western Australia, another PhD student, Anne Gaskett, is working on the amazing pollination of orchids by sexually incensed wasps. I spent much of January, in full sun and heat, in the western part of Sydney photographing different species of wasps than those in WA, on completely different species of orchids. It’s surprising enough to discover that an insect actually mates with a flower, but what really stunned me was the fact that Australia has not one but many species of these wasps and orchids – the greatest number in the world – specialising in this bizarre behaviour. Watch out for the fabulous photos and articles to come out of this assignment.

Also close to home and on familiar ground was the assignment I did for the Hawkesbury-Nepean Catchment Management Authority. I had another chance to tour the Hawkesbury River and its many tributaries: Colo, Macdonald, Wolgan, Capertee, Lett and many others, looking for those activities which help keep Sydney’s water supply clean and healthy.

Presentation and Workshops

The Day Safaris have been going fantastically well with more enrolments than last year and some good media coverage as well. Besides the local newspaper, ABC radio interviewed me. You can still listen to the interview as a 15 minute podcast available from their website.

Besides teaching others, a bit of self-education is necessary from time to time. I “graduated” from a short business workshop held especially for women in the Central Coast area and sponsored by the Department of State and Regional Development.

I was also asked to judge Willoughby Council’s nature photography competition this year, as part of their program, e.restore. The program was funded for four years and its purpose was to raise awareness among residents. If the level of photography is anything to go by, it’s a successful program and I hope it gets funding for an additional four years.

Recent Publications

David Lindenmayer and his associates from the Australian National University continue their dedicated efforts to get the message out about the need to preserve woodlands. The Woodlands - It’s Your Country exhibition is still touring after almost two years and this year they also managed to put out a calendar, which relies predominantly on my photos.

I’m still keeping busy producing stories for magazines. One of my recent favourites is about aboriginal tourism in the Kimberley. Here, aboriginal people are retaining their culture while partaking more and more of Australian society in a positive way. They are doing this through tourism. By teaching tourists how to live life in a traditional aboriginal way, they are successfully integrating their own timeless traditions into a modern world. Aboriginal tourism is growing faster in the Kimberley than in any other part of Australia.