From Budgies to seabird conservation at Long Point

The Trust welcomes Jim Young, a teacher from Catlins Area School, to their team. Jim will spend 2010 working on his project at Long Point thanks to receiving an Awarded Teacher Fellowship.

The New Zealand Science, Mathematics and Technology Teacher Fellowship Scheme is funded by the New Zealand Government and administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand.

Jim’s career in teaching has taken him from around city and country schools in  Queensland to the rural community of Owaka in the Catlins. He has previously been involved with conservation work in the Catlins, growing native plants and assisting Fergus Sutherland at the Forest & Bird (Southland) Te Rere Reserve.

Jim ‘s project ‘Whakaora Irahuka: restoring the white cliffs’ will be investigating aspects of seabird restoration at Long Point / Irahuka, including surveying and mapping seabird habitat, establishing vegetation plots, examining predator species composition and abundance and surveying the lizard fauna and distribution. We expect that Jim’s work will contribute significantly to the Trust’s planning processes and development of seabird conservation and restoration in the reserve. His professional experience as a science teacher will greatly assist in aspects of the project, but as the fellowship is designed to do, it will also present new challenges, information to acquire and skills to learn.

The Trust will act as the host organisation with the responsibility of supporting Jim and providing the resources and equipment necessary for the project to be successfully undertaken. It is unusual for a conservation trust to undertake this role, which would usually be taken by universities, Crown Research Institutes, local authorities, and museums.

We hope that the Catlins Area school will be able to benefit from Jim’s experiences with the Long Point / Irahuka project; this may include hands on experience with aspects of the research.

Crucial support for the application was received from Dr Bill Lee of Landcare Research and Dr Jamie Newman (University of Otago) who will act as science mentors for the project.

Related posts:

• Community Conservation Day Tavora 23 July
• Community Conservation Day
• YEPs Backyard
• Long point update