| | | | Sunday 4th September, 2022 | | | |
| | Hi friend,
“Citizen Science” is a fantastic way to harness community skills and passion - to boost the
capacity of science to answer questions about our world and how it works. There are simply not enough employed scientists in the world to carry out all of the data collection required to come up with solutions for many of today’s environmental problems.
Last month, as part of our many ongoing Citizen Science projects, the Museum joined with the Friends of Lord Howe Island to co-sponsor a study of the beetles of Lord Howe Island. Dr Chris Reid from the Australian
Museum lead the project and carried out the first beetle surveys since rodent
eradication in 2019. Volunteers participated in a number of day and night
studies on various parts of the island, searching for and recording beetle species. Chris was very
excited to see many more beetles than on any of his previous visits over the
past twenty years – including some very rare endemic species he had not
ever seen before. The survey results will be written up as an Australian
Museum Technical Report, and up-loaded to the Lord Howe Island Museum and Australian Museum websites. You can read more by following the links below.
If you are able to contribute time or resources to any of the Lord Howe Island Museum Citizen Science programs, I encourage you to contact us by following the links below or on our website, or simply send me an email. As always, I hope that you can help us spread the word about the Museum by sharing this newsletter with a friend, using the link at the top of this page. And please, give some thought about supporting us financially. We rely on donations, bequests, grants and gifts to keep up and running. Best regards, Ian Hutton Curator | | | |
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| | Volunteers removing introduced “sea-spurge” from the beachfront. | | | |
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| | | | Recent articles on the Museum web-site | |
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| | | | | | | McCulloch’s anemone fish is endemic to Lord Howe Island. In this article, author Brendan Atkins tells of his research while writing his book “The Naturalist”, which relates the story of Allan Riverstone McCulloch - a brilliant scientist and illustrator who lived and worked on the island in the early 1900s. | | | |
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| | | | | “The Naturalist: the remarkable life of Allan Riverstone McCulloch” reveals the highs and lows of this brilliant scientist and illustrator, who first visited the island in 1902 with Edgar Waite of the Australian Museum. McCulloch returned often, staying with island families to celebrate Christmas and collect specimens.
Later in life, he retreated to the island to recover from bouts of mental illness. He would be seen sitting in the sunshine, writing articles on his portable typewriter, or taking photographs of island life, or painting some of the amazing marine life from the island. | | | |
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| | The Lord Howe island Museum holds several works by Allan McCulloch, including paintings, sketches, photographs and scientific illustrations.
Following McCulloch’s tragic death in Honolulu in 1925, his friends arranged for a memorial to be erected at Signal Point, where it stands to this day overlooking the lagoon where he spent many hours studying its fishes and corals.
Author Brendan Atkins has woven a fascinating narrative to reveal the talented life and tragic death of this forgotten figure in the history of the island. | | | |
| | (Donations over $100 receive a free copy of the book) | | | |
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| | | | The wooden carvings on our doors | |
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| | | | | | | Many of the museum’s doors bear wood-carvings of plants and birds found on Lord Howe Island.
These were commissioned by Ian Kiernan when the museum was built, and were carved by Laurens Otto, master wood-carver.
Last month, Laurens visited the museum, 20 years after completing his work. | | | |
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| | | | | | | Lord Howe Island is home to more than 500 species of beetle.
Volunteer citizen scientists helped the Australian Museum and the Lord Howe Island Museum undertake the first survey of beetles since the eradication of rats in 2019.
The results are very encouraging. | | | |
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| | Citizen Science is integral to many kinds of research | |
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| | Citizen science is the collection and analysis of scientific data in relation to the natural world, performed predominantly by citizens, usually in collaboration with scientists and field experts. Citizen scientists work with scientists or the scientific framework to achieve scientific goals. It’s a great way to harness community skills and passion to fuel the capacity of science to answer questions about the world and how it works.
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| | Citizen Science on Lord Howe Island | |
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| | The Lord Howe Island Museum has been holding Citizen Science programs since 2001, encompassing projects such as bird-watching, beach plastic monitoring, identification of algae, seabird rescue, sea-slug photography and weed removal. | | | |
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| | | | What’s on during September | |
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| | The renovation of the wooden flooring and painting of the walls in the main area of the Museum are complete - and the result is amazing. | | | |
| | And the doors are open to all… | |
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| | Although work is still under way to refurbish the James Dorman Historical Gallery, the Museum, the Shop and the Coral Café are open again to the public. | | | |
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| | The Lord Howe Island Museum is a not-for-profit organisation. The Museum does not charge an entry fee – access is freely available to all visitors. All the staff are volunteers, and the majority of our funds come from donations, sponsorships, grants and bequests. You can help support us by making a donation to our general upkeep, or to finance one or more of our current projects. Find out how you can support us. | | | |
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