Campus Digest

Transdisciplinary students embark on study tour to Australia for citizen scientist project

Wednesday, 26 June 2024

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Fourteen students from transdisciplinary programmes act as citizen scientists in Sydney.
Students explore the environmental issue of the Hawkesbury River from a transdisciplinary perspective.
While navigating South Creek in canoes, students participate in a floating lecture by Dr Michelle Ryan (centre), Senior Lecturer in Ecology and Environmental Science of the Western Sydney University, on microplastics issues.
Streamwatch, a member of the Hawkesbury Nepean Waterkeeper Alliance, conducts on-site water quality testing and leads discussions on community engagement in water quality monitoring.
Students visit Yarramundi Reserve focusing on riparian health and water bugs.
Throughout the study tour, students interview other students and professors from the Western Sydney University as well as different stakeholders to produce teaching videos for a course on global challenges.

A group of 14 transdisciplinary students participated in a study tour to Sydney to explore the environmental issue of the Hawkesbury River through a citizen scientist approach from 27 May to 1 June. The event was organised by the Division of Transdisciplinary Undergraduate Programmes (DTUP) in partnership with the Sustainability Education and Partnerships team of the Western Sydney University (WSU) and the Hawkesbury Nepean Waterkeeper Alliance in Australia.

Led by Dr Glos Ho, Director of the DTUP, and Dr Patrick Yue, Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biology, the tour commenced with a Bioblitz, a project that finds and identifies as many species as possible in a specific area over a short period of time, to explore the role of transdisciplinary education in citizen science programmes. Students from WSU also participated in this project. HKBU students also navigated South Creek, Yarramundi Reserve and the Hawkesbury River to learn about issues related to microplastics, riparian health and water bugs, and flooding, respectively.

The students will produce teaching videos on microplastics, water stream management, and marine biodiversity, which will be integrated as teaching materials for a course on global challenges. They will take on the role of "Students-as-Partners" to guide 160 Year 1 transdisciplinary students in studying the issues related to underwater life.