Greta Thunberg, schoolgirl climate change warrior: ‘Some people can let things go. I can’t’

Greta Thunberg cut a frail and lonely figure when she started a school strike for the climate outside the Swedish parliament building last August. Her parents tried to dissuade her. 

 Greta Thunberg … ‘I have always been that
girl in the back who doesn’t say anything.’ 

Classmates declined to join. Passersby expressed pity and bemusement at the sight of the then unknown 15-year-old sitting on the cobblestones with a hand-painted banner.

Eight months on, the picture could not be more different. The pigtailed teenager is feted across the world as a model of determination, inspiration and positive action. National presidents and corporate executives line up to be criticised by her, face to face. Her skolstrejk för klimatet (school strike for climate) banner has been translated into dozens of languages. And, most striking of all, the loner is now anything but alone.

Read the story from The Guardian by Jonathon Watts“ -  "Greta Thunberg, schoolgirl climate change warrior: ‘Some people can let things go. I can’t’.”

Research reveals the story of Australian waterbirds the length and breadth of the Murray-Darling Basin

EIGHTEEN months ago a group of scientists started tagging and tracking Straw-necked Ibis in the Murray-Darling Basin.

Straw-necked Ibis pictured at Macquarie Marshes in NSW. 

At the time, they knew that more effective environmental water management depended on better knowledge about the movements of these birds.

What they didn’t expect was that the ibis would become more than dots on a map or the basis of integral research – they would become story-tellers, as unique individuals with their own experiences, adventures and lessons to learn.

This year, this collection of stories has increased with GPS satellite transmitters having tracked 40 straw-necked Ibis, 15 Royal Spoonbills and five Australian White Ibis.

Read the CSIRO blog - “Research reveals the story of Australian waterbirds the length and breadth of the Murray-Darling Basin.”