If you thought you’d missed the opportunity to add to your citizen-science activities by opting in to Pesticide Watch it’s not too late to join!
River Detectives were part of Deakin University’s pilot program in 2023, with schools collecting samples to be tested by project leader Brady Hamilton in the Deakin lab for pesticides.
The presence and prevalence of pesticides in waterways is an understudied issue. Brady’s summary report released late last year showed some interesting results which have lead to his PhD research this year.
Participating is easy – it’s simply a matter of collecting a monthly water sample and you can decide to do this over a 6 month period (to fit into your school year) or a 12 month period. There is no testing required – Brady does this back at Deakin.
Check out the flyer or find out more by reading this fact sheet and then contact Brady brady.hamilton@deakin.edu.au in the next three weeks to indicate your interest. You’ll be sent a kit with everything you need. Video instructions will be available and you can follow the project on the facebook page.
We can support you to learn about pesticides as you participate with the resources found here or by watching the webinar recorded with Brady in 2023.
Whether you are a rural or urban school, pesticides will be in your area. This is a great chance to directly contribute to cutting edge research into this important issue.
