What an incredible week it’s been! I’ve just returned from ESA25 in Adelaide, and I’m still buzzing from the energy and passion our ecosystem science community brought to the conference. It was truly rewarding to spend time with so many of you, hearing about your research and seeing firsthand the remarkable work happening across Australia.
But before I dive into conference highlights, I have some wonderful news to share. I’m absolutely delighted that Dr Suzanne Prober has been awarded the Ecological Society of Australia’s Gold Medal – and it couldn’t be more deserved! Suzanne has been with TERN since almost day one, leading our Great Western Woodlands SuperSite and making invaluable contributions to our understanding of this extraordinary landscape. More recently, she’s been driving the development of TERN’s National Ecosystem Assessment System for Australia (NEASA), work that will fundamentally transform how we assess and monitor the health of our ecosystems. Suzanne’s dedication, scientific excellence, and collaborative spirit embody the very best of our community. Congratulations, Suzanne – we’re immensely proud!
Speaking of excellence, ESA25 was a fantastic showcase of TERN-enabled science. I was genuinely blown away by the sheer number of talks and posters that drew on TERN data and infrastructure. It’s incredibly heartening to see our investment in long-term monitoring and data infrastructure bearing such rich scientific fruit. A huge thank you to everyone who stopped by our exhibition booth to say hello, share stories, and tell us about the valuable work you’re doing to better understand and restore Australia’s ecosystems. These conversations are what make conferences worthwhile – they remind us why we do what we do and inspire us to keep pushing forward.
By the way, one of the TERN products released for ESA is a new data-driven open-access tutorial on environmental data harmonisation in Australian Rangelands. It uses vegetation field surveys, meteorological model outputs, and national soil datasets to explore the drivers of species richness across these unique ecosystems.
We also had some significant news to share at the conference. TERN was proud to launch the first index for threatened and near-threatened reptiles – a milestone achievement as the only national infrastructure estimating changes in the abundance of our imperilled species. The pilot index reveals a sobering reality: reptiles have suffered more significant population declines than birds, mammals, or plants. This finding underscores the urgency of our work and the critical importance of comprehensive, long-term monitoring across all taxonomic groups. Read more about the way data in our threatened species index can be used.
As we head into the final stretch of 2024, I’m filled with optimism about what we can achieve together. If you want to share that optimism, just take a look at the video PhD student Jo Owens from University of Southern Queensland produced with the help of TERN’s Nicolas Rakotopare – it is an absolute treat to watch and hopefully will inspire more field research using TERN’s SuperSites.
Thank you for being part of TERN’s vital mission – happy reading.
Beryl