Logan City’s Park Ridge State High School and Substation33 are collaborating with Griffith University on a local citizen science initiative to proactively monitor Logan City waterways.
The initiative is one of forty community projects being funded by the Queensland Government’s latest Engaging Science Grants.
Griffith University, which received $20,000 for its project “Smart environmental sensing Australia”, partnered with Substation33 and three schools on the project: Logan’s Park Ridge State High School, Corinda State High School in Brisbane, and Numinbah Valley Environmental Education Centre on the Gold Coast.
Tony Sharpe from Kingston-based Substation33, which recycles electronic waste such as steel, plastic, copper and electronics components that are then resold and repurposed, says the project is set to go ahead this year.
“We’ve got a floating buoy device that sends information from the body of water back to the database that we can look at,” Tony says.
“It’s in some waterways around Logan, but this initiative [the Smart environmental sensing Australia] is about Park Ridge and trying to get kids to understand taking the pH level in waterways can be done through technology and the internet, and it’s built from recycled electronics, like laptop batteries.”
Lead Chief Investigator on the initiative Jarrod Trevathan from Griffith University, who wrote the grant, brought together the three schools and Substation33.
“Substation33 has partnered with us to create these water quality monitoring devices that we will be using in the schools,” he says.
“The idea is that each of the schools that has been selected, has a waterway on its campus, and we will provide the equipment over a period of time to take environmental readings of the water body, and we will make all the data publicly available.
“We want to create a bigger initiative where schools…make a tangible impact that we can measure with these devices.”
Jarrod says this phase of the funding goes over the next 12 months.
Science Minister Meaghan Scanlon says the Engaging Science Grants help to increase participation in science-based activities and engagement between scientists and the community.
“Through the grants, we also support events and activities that inspire students to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects, promote STEM careers, and engage the wider community to increase awareness of the amazing science happening in Queensland.
“The grants also support citizen science projects that contribute to important Queensland research, with successful applicants receiving funding of up to $20,000.”
Ms Scanlon says the grants have been awarded to schools, universities, citizen science groups and other organisations that are passionate about connecting students and other Queenslanders with science and scientists.
