2015 student’s volunteer botanical internship...

2015 Student’s Volunteer Botanical Internship Program

Australian National Herbarium and Australian National Botanic

Gardens, Canberra, ACT, Australia

5th Jan 2015 – 20th Feb 2015

Daniel Paul Joseph Fisher

The 2015 Intern group

Back row: Alu, Ruth, Heather, Daniel (me), Jess, David

Front row: Ross, Alice, Martina, Steph

Photo kindly presented to all interns upon completion of the program.

Daniel Fisher 2015 Student’s Volunteer Botanical Internship

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Contents Page

Introduction…………………………………………….……………………………………………………………………………3

Overview of project……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..3

Aims & Objectives…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………3

Itinerary………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..4

Locations Visited…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..10

Details of the work program………………………………………………………………………………………………...15

Problems encountered………………………………………………………………………………………………………….25

Summary and conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………….…………..26

Breakdown of final costs……………………………………………………………………………………………………….27

Acknowledgements……………………………………………………………………………………………………………….28

Referances…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….28


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Introduction

The 2015 Student’s Volunteer Botanical Internship Program has made up some of the best 7 weeks

of my life, it was a truly rewarding and exciting experience that I know will find useful in my future

career.

The internship consisted of 7 intensive weeks of 9 – 5 working in the Australian National Herbarium.

Students were integrated into the working community of the herbarium working as voluntary full-

time staff members as well as participating in a number of lectures and learning exercises to develop

essential herbarium skills. Interns received a broad spectrum of practical botanical training in

sessions conducted by professional scientists and conservationists within the Centre for Australian

National Biodiversity Research.

Overview of project

The Student's Volunteer Botanical Internship Program is designed to allow students of botany,

environmental science and related subjects the opportunity for substantive scientific work

experience in the Australian National Herbarium and Centre for Australian National Biodiversity

Research in Canberra, Australia.

Interns assist with various Centre programs and receive both task-specific training and general

botanical training. Work sessions are designed to give students a feel for life in the scientific

workforce. Training sessions complement academic studies with both botanical and general

workforce-skills components. A certificate of participation and a personal employment reference are

supplied upon completion of the Program.

The Program runs for seven weeks full-time over January and February and covers a variety of

topics. The Program was first run in 1993. Selection for placement in the Program is by application

review. Financial support is not available and Interns will work as registered volunteers. A five-day

per week commitment is expected. – from internship information given at the start of the program.

Aims

To furnish interns with the skills ability and knowledge through theoretical and practical work to aid

interns in future employment especially in a herbarium, or museum collection in a curatorial

capacity.

Objectives

To undergo practical tasks to gain beneficial work place experiences

To take part in lectures and other theoretical exercises to gain knowledge and skills relevant

to herbarium and botanical operations

To aid staff in the completion of important curatorial tasks

To understand the challenges faced by conservationists when trying to deal with invasive

weeds

Mandatory Fun!


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Itinerary

2015 Student's Volunteer Botanical Internship Program

Week 1 Time Event Staff members Venue

Monday, 5 January 2015

9:30 – 10:15

Registration and official welcome. Introduction to

the CANBR, the ANBG and the ANH. Outline of the

roles of integrated Gardens and Herbarium;

scientific, educational, reference, leisure,

conservation.

Speakers: Brendan Lepschi,

Australian National Herbarium

Curator, Bronwyn Collins, CANBR

CANBR Map Room

10:15 – 10:30 Morning Tea.

10:30 – 12:00

Orientation tour of ANBG site. (Admin, Visitor Centre,

Botany Bldg, Ellis Rowan Bldg, Nursery, Display

Glasshouse).

Judith Curnow, Heino Lepp,

CANBR

12:00 – 12:30

Orientation tour of CSIRO site. (Black Mountain Library,

Admin, Discovery Centre, Herbarium).

Bronwyn Collins, CANBR

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch.

1:30 – 3:00

Tour of Australian National Herbarium (Vascular

Herbarium).

Bronwyn Collins, Jo Palmer,

CANBR

3:00 – 3:30 Afternoon Tea or go home early!

Tuesday, 6 January 2015

9:30 – 10:30

Lecture: Plant nomenclature and description. Names of

Plants: scientific names - why have them and what do they

mean? The International Code of Botanical Nomenclature,

type specimens and differences of taxonomic opinion.

Brendan Lepschi, CANBR

CANBR Map Room

10:30 – 11:00 Morning Tea.

11:00 – 12:00

WHS (Workplace Health and Safety). All jobs now

require a basic knowledge of WHS principles.

Fred Riley, Dept. Environment;


12:00 – 5:00

INTRODUCTORY HERBARIUM TRAINING:

Introduction to general principles of biological collections

and herbaria (on CSIRO site). Navigation in the Herbarium;

specimen retrieval and put-away; specimen mounting.

Natalie Aked, Jo Palmer, CANBR


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Wednesday, 7 January 2015

9:30 – 11:00

Tour of the ANBG.

ANBG Volunteer Guide Margaret

Webber

Meet ANBG VIC

11:00 – 5:00 Herbarium training.

Thursday, 8 January 2015 9:00 – 12:30 Herbarium training.

1:30 – 3:00

Lecture: Using ANBG/CANBR field note books to create

good plant data.

Maggie Nightingale, CANBR

CANBR Map room

3:00 – 5:00 Herbarium training. Friday, 9 January 2015 9:00 – 5:00 Work in teams.


Monday, 12 January 2015 9:00 – 10:40 Work in teams.

10:40 – 11:00 Morning tea.

11:00 – 12:00

Lecture: Herbaria and Policy.

Rosemary Purdie, CANBR

Associate

CANBR Map Room

12:00 – 5:00 Work in teams.


8:30 – 5:30

Field trip: Local vegetation - field identification. Bring:

lunch, waterbottle, sun hat/sunglasses/ sunscreen, tough

protective clothing, cold weather gear, rain-wear,

comfortable boots or strong shoes, any necessary

medication, 10x hand lens – very important!! Pen and

paper.

Brendan Lepschi, Bronwyn Collins,

Emma Toms CANBR

Meet under Oak

Tree in Herbarium

Car Park

Wednesday, 14 January 2015 9:00 – 9:30 GNP selection and intro. Bronwyn Collins; Anna Monro CANBR Map Room

9:30 – 5:00 Work in teams. Thursday, 15 January 2015 9:00 – 12:30 Work in teams.

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch.

1:30 – 5:00

Workshop: Map reading - Latitude and longitude; grid

references; geological maps; exercises.

Maggie Nightingale, CANBR

CANBR Map Room

Friday, 16 January 2015 9:00 – 12:30 Briefing on Kioloa field trip. Bronwyn Collins, CANBR CANBR Map Room

Workshop: Principles of plant identification and using

identification tools.


CANBR Map Room

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch.


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Monday, 19 January 2015 9:00 – 5:00 Work in teams.


SOUTH COAST FIELD TRIP: Four-day trip based at the

Australian National University Field Station at Kioloa.

Vascular plant collecting techniques; vascular plant

identification; use of floras, handbooks and electronic

interactive keys; area management issues.

Bronwyn Collins, Brendan Lepschi,

Emma Toms, CANBR

South Coast NSW


Monday, 26 January 2015 Australia Day holiday. Tuesday, 27 January 2015 9:00 – 5:00 Regular work in teams.

Wednesday, 28 January 2015 9:00 – 11:00 Lecture: Grasses, Sedges, Rushes and Restiads. Maggie Nightingale, CANBR CANBR Map Room

11:00 – 5:00 Regular work in teams. Thursday, 29 January 2015 9:00 - 10:00 Lecture: The role of genetics in restoration. Linda Broadhurst, CSIRO CANBR Map Room

10:00 – 12:30 Regular work in teams.

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch.

1:30 – 5:00

Tour of Australian National Wildlife Collection.

Leo Joseph & Kerensa McElroy,

ANWC

ANWC, Gungahlin.

Meet under Oak

tree. 2 pm at

AWC

Friday, 30 January 2015

9:00 – 12:30

Regular work in teams.

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch.

1:30 – 5:00 Jobs And Funding In Science And Conservation.

CVs, Job Applications and Scientific Grants - how to

write them. Developing a CV; first publications and

developing a publication list; putting your job application

together; interviews.

Liz Visher, Australian Research

Council

CANBR Map Room


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Monday, 2 February 2015 9:00 – 5:00 Regular work in teams.

Tuesday, 3 February 2015

9:00 – 12:30

Overview of Bryophytes, Lichens and Fungi - Session

1. Talk on recognition of major groups, introduction to

Cryptogam collection. Bring your hand lens - essential.

Judith Curnow, CANBR, Chris

Cargill, CANBR & Heino Lepp,

CANBR Associate

Meet outside

Visitor Centre,

ANBG

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch.


Wednesday, 4 February 2015

9:00 – 12:30

Overview of Bryophytes, Lichens and Fungi - Session

2. A half-day fieldtrip on the ANBG site (bring water bottle,

sunhat/sunglasses/ sunscreen, comfortable boots or strong

shoes and hand lens - essential).

Judith Curnow, CANBR & Heino

Lepp, CANBR Associate

Meet outside

Visitor Centre,

ANBG

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch.

1:30 – 5:00 Regular work in teams. Thursday, 5 February 2015 9:00 – 10:30 Lecture: Lichens: ecology, economics, taxonomy. Heino Lepp Dickson Room

10:30 – 11:00

Morning Tea.

Botany Building

Tea Room

11:00 – 12:00 Lecture: Fungi: ecology, economics, taxonomy. Heino Lepp Dickson Room

12:00 – 1:00 Lecture: The Bryophytes. Chris Cargill, CANBR Dickson Room

1:00 – 2:00 Lunch.

2:00 – 5:00

NCRA Summer Student Symposium.

Waterhouse

Lecture Theatre

Botany session.

Life in the dirt: species delimitation in soil crust lichens. Farzana Kastury

How do plant traits bias seed collecting efforts for

conservation?

Kathryn McGilp

How many have you got? Chromosome numbers and

genome sizes in alpine daisies.

Meghan Castelli

3:10 – 3:30 Afternoon tea.

3:30pm – 4:50pm Zoology session.


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Climate adaptation in birds: characterising genetic variation

in Red-browed Finches.

Ayla Wilson

Comparing morphological, molecular and ecological

diversity.

Laura Welsh

Discover new butterfly and moth species with molecular

tools.

Brodie Foster

Description of a new beetle fossil from the Jurassic. Lauren Ashman

Presentation of certificates and closing remarks.

Friday, 6 February 2015

9:00 – 12:00

Lecture: Fire ecology.

Michael Doherty, CSIRO Land &

Water National Research Flagship

CANBR Map Room

and Black

Mountain



Monday, 9 February 2015

9:20 – 5:00

Workshop: Scientific presentation and media skills.

Mikayla Keen, CSIRO Comms and

Information Officer

Conference

Room, Building 1

Tuesday, 10 February 2015

9:00 – 10:30

Lecture: Molecular phylogenetics: from sample to

phylogenetic tree.

Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn,

CANBR

CANBR Map Room

10:30 - 11:00 Morning tea Full stop missing.

11:00 – 12:30

Lecture: Polyploidy and fitness.

Bob Godfree, CANBR

CANBR Map Room

& Black Mountain

test plots

12:30 – 1:30 Lunch.


Wednesday, 11 February 2015 9:00 – 11:30 Regular work in teams.

11:30 - 1:00

Lecture & Tour of ANBG seed bank.

Lydia Guja and Tom North, ANBG

ANBG Theatrette,

Seed Bank

1:00 – 2:00 Lunch.

2:00 – 5:00 Regular work in teams. Thursday, 12 February 2015 9:00 – 5:00 Regular work in teams.


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Friday, 13 February 2015 9:00 – 10:00 Lecture: Daisy (Asteraceae) research at the herbarium. Alexander Schmidt-Lebuhn CANBR Map Room


5:00 Job application deadline.


Monday, 16 February 2015

9:00 – 10:00

Lecture: Doing science based on floras and natural history

collections.

Sarah Mathews, CANBR

CANBR Map Room


3:00 – 5:00 Tour of Australian National Insect Collection. ANIC

Tuesday, 17 February 2015 9:00 – 5:00 Regular work in teams. Wednesday, 18 February 2015 9:00 – 11:30 Intern Seminar Presentations. Bronwyn Collins, Brendan Lepschi ANBG Theatrette

11:30 – 5:00 Regular work in teams. Thursday, 19 February 2015 9:00 – 1:00 Return of job applications; practice interview questions. Bronwyn Collins, Emma Clifton CANBR Map Room

1:00 – 2:00 Lunch.

2:00 – 5:00 Regular work in teams. Friday, 20 February 2015 9:00 – 11:30 Complete work in teams.

Hand back all loaned resources (e.g. Junior Botanist Kits,

library books etc).

Make your way to the ANBG.

11:30 – 12:30 Formal Presentation of Internship Certificates. * ANBG Theatrette

* This will be the subject of media releases, and some

media may show up. Slightly better-than-average casual

wear is advised.

12:30 – 1:30

Farewell Lunch.

Meet under Oak

Tree

1:30 – 5:00 Work in teams (just kidding!).

END OF PROGRAM (*sniff*)

.


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Locations visited

The majority of the internship took place at the Australian National Herbarium which is part of the

Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research on the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial

Research Organisation) Black mountain site and at the Australian National Botanic Gardens (ANBG)

which is attached to the Black mountain site.

There were a small number of outings on the internship program:

Jervis Bay – Kioloa Field Station

This was a four day residential trip designed to highlight the importance of accurate collecting

information, develop professional field collecting skills, keying out practice including collecting

specimens from a designated habitat and identifying them, as well as, trying to relocate specimens

that were collected in the past few hundred years – this was an informative and frustrating exercise,

as some of the collections did not have very descriptive locality data and some of the areas had

undergone significant habitat change.

My group at Kioloa identifying the plants that we collected, some of them are now lodged as

specimens in the herbarium.


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Penance Grove

This was a trip to an area of temperate rainforest that suffered heavily because of its once large

population of valuable tree ferns. This was known as the botanic massacre: the tops of the tree ferns

were lopped off and stacked into a truck, most of the tree ferns are suspected to have ended up in

peoples’ gardens.

The remains of the decapitated tree ferns at Penance Grove.

Eurobodalla Regional Botanic Gardens

This was a brief visit on the way to Kioloa, we received a tour of the seed store and herbarium

before having a quick play on the park’s xylophone and a great buffet lunch.

Ross a fellow intern showing off his musical skills on the Xylophone.


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Booderee Botanic Gardens

This was a brief walk around the ANBG sister site – originally formed to grow frost-intolerant

Australian species that would not survive in the Canberra climate – the herbarium curator led the

group around the gardens and pointed out plants of interest, we also received an aboriginal cultural

tour complete with not one, but two red-bellied black snakes.

The two beautiful red bellied black snakes Pseudechis porphyriacus that we came across at

Booderee.

Booderee National Park

This was to see how the invasive bitou bush was being eradicated from the Booderee National Park –

the bitou bush is being controlled by a spray and burn routine and it is hoped that the method they

have developed will be able to effectively control other invasive weeds in other areas where weed

management is becoming an issue.

The ranger at Booderee national park explaining about the invasive bitou bush.


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Captains Flat

This was a day trip out to give students a brief overview of common Australian families and species,

local habitats and vegetation types associated with them as well as key features to look for when

trying to identify these plants in the field, led by the herbarium curator. This was a good fun day out

with many interesting finds.

David, left, a fellow intern with a kangaroo skull that we found and Maggie Nightingale, right,

showing us some native grasses.


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Australian National Wildlife Collection + Australian National Insect Collection

Highlighted the transferable skills gained on the internship program as well as an opportunity to look

around these fantastic collections that are not generally open to the public.

Leo the curator of the wildlife collection during the tour of the collections.

One of the amazing display collections at the national insect collection.


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Details of the work programme

Week one consisted of our site orientation and integration, consisting of workplace health and

safety and introductory herbarium training covering the basis of herbarium curatorial techniques,

such as specimen mounting and incorporation, as well as, of course how the collections are

arranged. Interns then worked together alphabetising the herbarium sheet collections to be

incorporated before putting them away. Another task undertaken in the first week was mounting. It

was interesting to note the differences between ANH techniques and those of RBGE. ANH use

archival tape and bookbinding thread with a reef knot on top of the specimen with the emphasis

being on being able to remove the specimen from the sheet. RBGE use gum tape and much finer

archival thread and in some instances glue with the knot on the back of the herbarium sheet not the

top of the specimen, with the knot being taped into place. Mounting at ANH is usually done by

volunteers as seems to be case in all Australian herbariums. At the end of the week there was a

lecture on the importance of accurate and detailed collection information that goes into field

notebooks when collecting plants.

Me, working in the mounting room mounting some orchid specimens from Perth herbarium.


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Some of my finished specimens after mounting.


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Week two started with us being issued with new teams and tasks: mine was orchid incorporation i.e.

putting specimens back into the compactus after they had come back from loan or being used for

research. During the start of the week there was a lecture on herbaria and policy to explain how

herbaria and their data is used by different people and organisations. This was a fascinating lecture

highlighting many uses that I had never thought of, such as, police forensics and threatened species

legislations.

Me sorting out orchid specimens for incorporation.

One of the beautiful orchids that I was incorporating into the collection.


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There was at trip to Captains Flat during this week (see above for brief description), during this trip

out we found many interesting creatures as well as plants including a young red-bellied black snake

and a Christmas beetle, we also found hundreds of irritating flies. Assignments were handed out

during the middle of this week; to research the taxonomy and how to cultivate a selected Australian

native plant to go up on the Growing Native Plant page on the ANBG website, a 7 – 10 minute

presentation was also to be given at the end of the program. There were also workshops on map

reading, plant identification and key making, these were very useful and brushed up on existing

skills.

Christmas beetle from Captains Flat.

Another interesting find at Captains Flat.


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Some of the hundreds of flies that plagued us at Captains Flat.

Week 3 was a blast! For most of the week interns were on a residential field trip down at Kioloa field

station on the coast (for details see above). Whilst there we visited many other sites such as

Booderee Gardens, Booderee National Park and a mangrove site. We had long days - 7 till 7 was

usual - but especially long on the plant identification day, everyone was so engrossed in what they

were doing that no one noticed the time. Luckily a very accomplished chef came along on the trip to

keep us all sustained and happy. With the evenings being spent swimming in the sea and sitting

round the bonfire telling tales of the day and having a good laugh.

One of the gnarled old mangroves that we saw whilst on the 4 day field trip.


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There was lots of cool wildlife around that station and also when we were out an about: including

giant mobs of kangaroos, snakes, birds, spiders and two of my favourites below.

Lace Monitor Varanus varius from around the cabin we were staying in.

Jacky lizard Amphibolurus muricatus from Booderee National Park.


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One of the highlights of this week was the plant hunt - trying to locate previously collected

specimens based only on their collection data highlighting the importance of accurate and detailed

collection data.

My team for the plant hunt scouring the coast for a small inconspicuous Rosaceace – at least the

weather was nice.

Week 4 was more work in different teams - today it was Maps, sorting out a large donation from the

National Insect Collection and deciding which ones to keep and which ones not to. This week also

featured a grasses lecture that was hands-on and interesting. A fascinating lecture in the role of

genetics in restoration, particularly how inbreeding can impact the strength of populations in the

wild, and how plants of the same species can exhibit very different features based on the various

expressions of their genes. On the Thursday of this week there was a trip to the Australian National

Wildlife Collection based at another of CSIRO’s sites in the Australian capital. It was interesting to

see after looking at the collections, which aspects were different, and which were the same;

between the herbarium and the wildlife collection. The week ended with a talk from a guest speaker

on how to get jobs and funding in science as well as tips on creating CVs and attending interviews.

Some of the specimens at the National Wildlife Collection pictured front: Echidna back: Tree

Kangaroo.


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Week 5 was very lecture heavy, with five lectures on bryophytes and fungi over at the cryptogam

herbarium. They started off at an introductory level before quickly advancing to their taxonomy and

life cycle in detail. Whilst not at lectures, I was working in loans, learning how to process returns and

outgoing loans, from entering them into the database to packing them up in a box. Near the end of

the week there were some presentations from the summer students on their projects. There was a

range of topics discussed with each student having worked in a different area – these talks were

interesting and informative, showing the range of research areas that CSIRO is involved in. The end

of the week brought a fire ecology lecture focusing particularly on the famous 2012 wild fires in

Canberra. This lecture involved a walk up Black Mountain to look at how the habitat was recovering

after this burn. It also focused on the different types of burn and the ways plants have adapted to

fire. Work this week consisted of sorting through hundreds of fern separates. A new system had to

be developed to accommodate the sheer number and volume of specimens.

Me sorting and putting away all of the fern separates.

Week six started with an all day workshop on presentation and media skills and how media can be

good or bad for your scientific career. This was a very useful workshop that I feel, I gained a lot out

of, it was also rather fun. There was a lecture on molecular phylogenies on the Tuesday that was

enthralling explaining how and why genetics is being used more and more as a classification tool.

After this was a lecture on the effects of polyploidy on the fitness of plants and their adaptability to

change. This was particularly interesting including the tour of the field tests that were being done to

determine how this could be used to save these populations from climate change. In the middle of

the week there was a tour of the ANBG seed bank, which was interesting for me, as I have been to

the seed bank at Wakehurst; it was interesting to compare the two. Following this I spent the day in

the gardens doing some hard work with a fellow intern, digging up blackberries and other invasive

weeds from the gardens, as well as removing some introduced Acacia trees with Roundup and a


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pruning saw. At the end of the week there was a lecture on the Asteraceae research being done at

the herbarium.

The polyploidy fitness trials being done at CSIRO Black Mountain site.

Week 7 was the final week of the internship. This was a week of finishing up tasks and another trip

over to work in the ANBG gardens; this time weeding around the car park, before heading down to

the rainforest gully to tidy up some tree ferns. The week stated with a fabulous trip around the

Australian National Insect Collection based on the other side of the CSIRO Black Mountain site. This

was somewhat highly anticipated, as I have a strong interest in Entomology and invertebrates,

particularly methods of storing them alive and dead. It was interesting to compare the differences

and similarities in the curatorial techniques of the Australian Wildlife Collection and the Australian

National Herbarium. This week was also the deadline for our Growing Native Plants presentations

and web info. The presentation was given to the group and any staff that wished to attend with

feedback on presentation skills and content. The topic of my presentation was Eucalyptus langleyii, a

rare vulnerable species, consisting only of a small population of 2000 or less in south NSW. This

week also brought mock job interviews and returned CVs and job applications which was a useful and

fun exercise. At the end of the week there were thank yous and the formal presentation of the

internship certificates, I was chosen to speak for the group during the ceremony to say thank you

and represent everyone’s thoughts on the program, it seemed to go down well, which was nice.


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Some of the stunning collections from the National Insect Collection.

Specimens being mounted for long term preservation.


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Problems encountered

A personal problem that I encountered was 4 days before the internship started. I managed to chip

my collar bone body boarding at my cousin’s on the Sunshine Coast on New Year’s Eve. This made

some of the work at the start of the program difficult, however I recovered quickly and could

manage most tasks with ease by the end of the second week.

Me on my return from the hospital after chipping my collar bone.

Whilst at Kioloa Field Station there was a vehicle malfunction preventing the boot from opening.

This was overcome by squeezing everyone into the other vehicles, we had more space after the

equipment and food had been taken out, it still made for a cosy experience though! The problem

was later solved by attaching a length of rope to the internal boot handle and tying the end to the

crash barrier, so that if the problem re-occurred, the boot could be opened by pulling on the rope.


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Summary and Cconclusion

The internship was one of the best experiences of my life and I loved taking part in such a wonderful

program. The internship was made up of people of all ages from many different backgrounds and I

hope the friends that I made will keep in contact over many years to come, maybe even in a

professional context.

The skills that I have learnt and honed on this internship, will aid me in my future employment, with

many of them being transferable to other roles. The added experience that I gained will also help

make me more attractive to future employers, particularly if I choose to work in a herbarium or

museum in a curatorial capacity.

The lectures on the internship have improved my knowledge drastically, especially concerning

Australian flora and habitats. It was useful to find out the areas of research that CSIRO is involved in

and how a plant-based science department functions.

I feel that all the aims and objectives of the program have been met without a doubt. The work

experience was incredibly beneficial both to the ANH and to me; helping me decide clearer goals for

my future career path which is always invaluable. As well as this, I also feel that I have a much

clearer view on the realities and challenges faced in conservational work. Additionally how

commercial horticulture needs to play a much greater role in conservation efforts in the future to

make them more successful, even maybe to the point that home gardens could be viewed as

botanical resources.

Future plans generated

This project has made me realise that I do not want to work in a garden as a general horticulturist. I

much prefer the work that goes on inside horticultural and botanical institutions, such as herbaria

and botanic gardens in curatorial and research perspectives. I particularly wish to focus my efforts

on research and collecting activities in the future. I have been carrying out seed germination trials as

part of the millennium seed bank project at Alice Springs Desert Park. I have recently been asked to

go on a research trip around some of the arid areas surrounding Alice Springs, to survey shrubs and

trees, to determine the damage caused by camel browsing. During both of these I will find the skills

gained on the internship program invaluable to my success.


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Final Costing Breakdown

Item Cost

Air fare out £468.55

Air fare return £543.26

Air fare from Canberra £98.59

Air fare to Canberra £164.69

Bus to gardens £105.99

Mileage to airport £69.00

Mileage from airport £69.00

Insurance £426.50

Visa £230.79

Accommodation £395.48

Food £3.87 a day for 60 days £232.48

Vaccinations Hep A + B JE £160.00

Taxi from airport £11.30

Mileage Canberra (car share to Sydney)

£22.60

RHS Bursary received £1,750.00

Merlin Trust Bursary received £800.00

Total Bursary received £2,550.00

Total Bursary - Total costs -£448.23

Total costs £2,998.23


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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank the RHS Coke Trust Bursary Fund and the Merlin Trust for funding this

internship program. Without the funding received I would not have been able to afford to take part

in this wonderful internship program.

I would also like to thank Bronwyn Collins, organiser of the internship, Brendan Lepschi the curator

of the ANH and all of the other staff at ANH, CSIRO, The Centre for Plant Biodiversity research and

ANBG.

Thanks to Greg Kenicer and Chris Murphy and everyone else for all their advice and help with my

application.

Photos

All photos are mine unless they are of me. I would like to thank the people who kindly took photos

of me, firstly Heather Forbes who took most of the photos of me, but I would also like to thank

Martina Taylor and Emma Toms for their assistance.

References

Growing Native Plants (2012) Australian National Botanic Gardens and Centre for Australian National

Biodiversity Research, Canberra http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/index.html#A [accessed 03/02/15]

http://www.anbg.gov.au/gnp/index.html#A

2015 student’s volunteer botanical internship...

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