The Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) has joined forces with Biodiversity and Climate Change Virtual Laboratory (BCCVL) and Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN) to deliver an exciting and innovative new training program called EcoEd.

EcoEd provides cohesive training and skill development to university lecturers and researchers enabling them to combine theoretical concepts with real-world applications developed by three NCRIS-supported facilities (ALA, BCCVL and TERN) into undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum.

ALA, BCCVL and TERN developed data and products are already being used by some of Australia’s most successful ecosystem scientists and most inspiring lecturers spread across all our universities and institutions.

The EcoEd program builds on these achievements, in providing the training required to further incorporate NCRIS-developed expertise and capabilities into Australia’s higher education and research sector.

In doing so EcoEd is increasing the capacity of Australia’s research community to advance science and deliver outcomes that benefit the nation and underpin the sustainable use of our ecosystems. Moreover, it is enabling first-rate science education in Australia by supporting and nurturing our future scientists.

EcoEd provides cohesive training and skill development to university lecturers and researchers enabling them to combine theoretical concepts with real-world applications developed by three NCRIS facilities (ALA, BCCVL and TERN) into undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum.

EcoEd Champions leading the way

The EcoEd program was piloted this month in Adelaide where eight very enthusiastic champions from across Australia and New Zealand with varying backgrounds and institutions came together for a two day workshop. You can meet our champions below.

At the workshop the champions absorbed ready-to-use lecture and workshop modules, along with tools and knowledge on how to use the ALA, BCCVL and TERN platforms to explore species data and their relationships with their environment. The champions will now be incorporating these in their work and re-delivering the education materials in their own institutions.

EcoEd will be further developed to provide professionals teaching ecological and environmental science subjects at tertiary institutions with a wealth of information resources that can be used in courses that focus on topics such as ecology, biogeography, data fitness for use, environmental management and spatial analysis.In addition to the ALA, BCCVL & TERN, we would like to give a special thanks to Research Data Services (RDS) and National eResearch Collaboration Tools and Resources project Nectar for their support in making this program happen. And of course, a big thank you to all our champions for your enthusiasm and participation.

Meet our champions

Here’s a list of our current EcoEd Champions and their biographies.

Champions Biographies [PDF 710KB]

For more information about EcoEd, or if you are interested in participating as a champion in a future program, please express your interest by contacting Chantal Huijbers (c.huijbers@griffith.edu.au).