Science for Wildlife -
Blue Mountains Koala Project

October 10, 2020

1 pm PDT

This year’s Australian bushfires brought untold destruction to both wild spaces and wildlife, such as the koala. Science for Wildlife is a Sydney-based conservation group that combines the best available science with community engagement and conservation action to protect vulnerable Australian wildlife. Their model ensures that research is applied on the ground where it counts, and by involving local communities and land managers their conservation efforts are sustainable. Science for Wildlife carried out search and rescue of koalas post-fire, plus an emergency evacuation before the fires hit, then released them back to safe wild habitat. They carried out extensive emergency response work across the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, setting up water and food stations so that koalas and other affected wildlife are able to avoid dehydration and starvation in the wake of the bushfires.

SPEAKER

Dr. Kellie Leigh

Executive Director

Kellie Leigh is a conservation biologist with over 20 years of experience. She has worked on koala conservation and research for the last ten years, and is currently assessing the impact of the recent Australian bushfires on koalas and their habitats. Prior to founding Science for Wildlife, Kellie spent a decade in Zambia where she founded an ongoing non-profit organization that utilises large carnivores as flagship species for landscape-scale conservation. She has a PhD in conservation biology and her expertise includes conservation biology, genetics, behavioural ecology, and recent innovative work training and evaluating wildlife detection dogs in Australia.