{"id":11046,"date":"2026-06-23T09:32:22","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mli.org.au\/home\/?p=11046"},"modified":"2026-06-23T09:32:22","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T23:32:22","slug":"case-study-exploring-nocturnal-wildlife-and-citizen-science","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mli.org.au\/home\/case-study-exploring-nocturnal-wildlife-and-citizen-science\/","title":{"rendered":"Case Study: Exploring Nocturnal Wildlife and Citizen Science"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<header>\n<p class=\"lead\"><strong>An evening community event focused on citizen science and nocturnal wildlife. It included an introduction to iNaturalist, talks on local wildlife, habitat conservation, and a guided night walk.<\/strong><\/p>\n<div id=\"viewlet-below-content-description\"><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div id=\"content-core\">\n<div id=\"main-content\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-xs-12 col-md-8\">\n<div class=\"content-block issue-block\">\n<h2>The issue<\/h2>\n<p>Many people are interested in local wildlife but are unsure how to get involved in conservation in a practical and accessible way. There are also limited opportunities for rural communities to learn about nocturnal wildlife and contribute to environmental monitoring. The community event aimed to increase awareness of local species, encourage community participation in citizen science and demonstrate how simple tools like iNaturalist can help build local environmental knowledge.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-block solution-block\">\n<h2>The solution<\/h2>\n<p>The event was delivered as a community evening focused on nocturnal wildlife and citizen science. The program began indoors with an introduction to using iNaturalist, helping participants understand how to record and share biodiversity observations. This was followed by guest speaker Mason Crane from the Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT) who spoke about BCT programs and key nocturnal species, including their behaviours and habitats.<\/p>\n<p>The evening then moved outdoors for a guided night walk, giving participants the chance to experience local wildlife firsthand. During the walk, participants saw brushtail possums, owls and bats, whilst hearing the distinctive call of Boobook owls, bringing the learning to life in a real landscape setting.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"content-block impact-block\">\n<h2>The impact<\/h2>\n<p>The event provided a memorable and accessible introduction to citizen science, increasing participants\u2019 awareness of how tools like iNaturalist can support environmental understanding.<\/p>\n<p>Attendees gained a better understanding of local, nocturnal species and the importance of habitat conservation. The guided walk created an engaging way for people to connect with nature through direct experience. Strong community interest and positive feedback highlighted the value of hands-on environmental learning opportunities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"content-block author-block\">Author:\u00a0<em>Felicity Chittick<\/em><\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"tag-line\"><a href=\"http:\/\/mli.org.au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Murrumbidgee-Landcare-Inc-Matong-After-Dark_-Exploring-Nocturnal-Wildlife-and-Citizen-Science-Case-Study.pdf\">Case Study: Matong After Dark_ Exploring Nocturnal Wildlife and Citizen Science<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"tag-line\">Capacity building\u00a0&#8211;\u00a0LEP23_036_LLC12_1<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=&#8221;11045&#8243; img_size=&#8221;large&#8221; style=&#8221;vc_box_rounded&#8221; css=&#8221;&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text] An evening community event focused on citizen science and nocturnal wildlife. It included an introduction to iNaturalist, talks on local wildlife, habitat conservation, and a guided night walk. The issue Many people are interested in local wildlife but are unsure how to get involved in conservation in a practical and accessible way. There are [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":11045,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"saved_in_kubio":false,"pmpro_default_level":"","iawp_total_views":8,"footnotes":""},"categories":[341],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lep-case-studies","pmpro-has-access"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mli.org.au\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mli.org.au\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mli.org.au\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mli.org.au\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mli.org.au\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11046"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mli.org.au\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11046\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11048,"href":"https:\/\/mli.org.au\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11046\/revisions\/11048"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mli.org.au\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11045"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mli.org.au\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mli.org.au\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mli.org.au\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}