“When it’s perfect flying weather and it’s still, I have to pinch myself,” says Prof Richard Kingsford. “I’ve got the best job in the world.”
At the start of October for almost 40 years, Kingsford has climbed into a small plane to lead one of the world’s biggest and longest-running wildlife surveys, scanning and recording waterbirds across almost a third of the Australian continent.
Kingsford and his waterbirds aerial survey team were awarded a prestigious Eureka prize on Wednesday night for their efforts that have influenced the conservation of the Murray-Darling basin and helped create three new national parks.
Each year, the survey flies about 38,000km – almost the equivalent of a full circumnavigation of the globe – recording more than 50 groups of birds at a height of a little over 50m.
Since the surveys started in 1983, Kingsford says they have seen declines of up to 70% in bird numbers, particularly over the Murray-Darling basin.
“We are in the Anthropocene,” he says. “We have fundamentally changed these rivers and we don’t seem to be learning from our mistakes.
“I started as someone interested in waterbirds and ducks and their ecology. But after a few years I thought I couldn’t just spend my time being fascinated with them, when they were disappearing.”
Seeing Australia’s vast Lake Eyre Basin in times of flood is a “special privilege”, says Kingsford, whose team at the University of New South Wales includes Dr John Porter, Dr Kate Brandis and Dr Gilad Bino.
Data from the surveys has been crucial in finding and prioritising wetlands and rivers for conservation, and for targeting environmental water releases.
Spending six weeks in a small plane can be physically difficult, Kingsford says, especially in harsh weather, “but I don’t tire of it”.
“I get this wonderful opportunity to see Australia at scale.”
Kingsford and his waterbird survey team were handed the Eureka award for applied environmental research – one of 18 categories recognised at the annual awards – at the Australian Museum in Sydney.
Australian Museum director Kim McKay said: “As the world faces unprecedented challenges such as accelerating climate change, Australian scientists continue to lead, innovate and inspire.
“Scientific knowledge and innovation is key to progress. Researchers and scientists help us understand how our universe works and how we can protect it.”
Other winners included IMAGENDO and OMNI Ultrasound and Gynaecological Care for pairing artificial intelligence with other imaging technologies to give faster and non-invasive diagnosis of endometriosis, a disease that affects one in nine Australian women.
The prize for innovation in citizen science went to the 1 Million Turtles Community Conservation Program that is engaging people around Australia to find, study and protect native freshwater turtles.
The Eureka prize for leadership in science and onnovation went to the University of Sydney’s Prof Michael Kassiou for his work in finding new drug treatments for conditions such as brain disorders and cardiovascular disease.
