In April 2025 the Bush Blitz team headed to Jawoyn Country in the Northern Territory, accompanied by six teachers from around Australia as part of Earthwatch’s TeachLive program. This fully-funded educational and professional development program places Australian primary and secondary school teachers of science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) and geography as research assistants on expeditions, where they spend a week helping researchers with vital data collection, learning scientific skills, and communicating with their students back home through social media and video calls.
James Phillips from Montrose Bay High School in Tasmania was one such teacher, and he wrote to his students each evening about his adventures on Jawoyn Country. Here is an excerpt from Day 3 of the expedition:
If you had told me a few months ago that I would be flying over Katherine Gorge in a helicopter with the history curator for the Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, en route to some of the remotest parts of Jawoyn Country to hunt for new species of butterflies and dragonflies, I would have said you were dreaming.
But that is exactly where I found myself, heading into Nitmiluk National Park with Jared Archibald and three Jawoyn Rangers as part of a Bush Blitz expedition. The primary purpose of this trip was to discover species that are new to western science. This is incredibly exciting and important conservation work – you can’t protect what you don’t know exists.
Unfortunately, the rain drove most of the butterflies and dragonflies into hiding, which made them difficult to spot and trap. Mostly I spent the day trying not to fall into the water, flapping about with my bug-catching net, and listening to the stories that Jared had to tell. Despite the weather, I did catch a few specimens, and it's incredibly cool to know that they’ll live in the museum archives forever for future scientists to examine.
This trip, and this day in particular, reminded me how working in science can be an exciting and dynamic job that takes you to many awesome places. It also introduces you to interesting people, as the work of these conservation scientists is so important in protecting Australia’s unique biodiversity.
