Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science-TESS

Bringing together research, technology, and Indigenous knowledge systems was at the heart of the “Biodiversity Monitoring and Thermal Drones” workshop held at the Daintree Rainforest Observatory - James Cook University 11-12 May.

Hosted in partnership with Terrain NRM, the workshop saw 12 Indigenous Ranger groups from across the Wet Tropics come together with researchers from JCU: James Cook University, Australia's TESS Centre to explore how thermal drone technology can strengthen wildlife monitoring and support caring for Country.

Over two days participants engaged in collaborative discussions, hands-on field training, and knowledge sharing focused on survey design, thermal imaging, and detecting elusive rainforest species. Rangers engaged in the Spectacled Flying-fox monitoring program reflected on the strengths and weaknesses of the program and on how emerging technologies can work alongside Traditional Ecological Knowledge to support long-term conservation outcomes.

For TESS, supporting initiatives like this is about more than technology alone. It is about building meaningful partnerships between researchers, Indigenous Ranger groups, government agencies, and regional organisations to co-develop practical conservation solutions grounded in both science and lived experience.

One of the most rewarding aspects of the workshop was seeing the exchange of ideas between participants — from technical drone applications through to aspirations for reconnecting with species that hold deep cultural significance on Country.

A sincere thank you to all Indigenous Ranger groups, collaborators, and project partners who contributed to such an engaging and inspiring event, to PhD Candidate Norris and DRO Manager Larson for sharing their skills, to Dr Andrew Dennis and his team at Terrain NRM for their organisation and delivery of the workshop, and finally to the Australian Government-funded programs from Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment and Resilient Landscapes Hub supporting this work.

The future of conservation depends on collaboration, and workshops like this demonstrate what is possible when knowledge, innovation, and community come together.

Huge thank you to Carsten Schradin and Lindelani Makuya for yesterday's excellent seminar. It was great to see so many lovely TESSians again and some new ones. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Lots of fun with the Q&A too.

For those of you who missed the seminar here is the YouTube link.

Seminar 1: Harshness is Not Stress / Solitary species represent a diversity of social systems Harshness Is Not StressSpeaker: Carsten SchradinAbstractAnimals...

Well done all! Can't wait to see how it grows.

The Conservation Action Research Network Aspire Grant Program application period is now open through June 10, 2026. Applications for research grants up to US$ 5,000 can be made. See the terms and conditions at

Aspire Grant Program – CARN The Aspire Grant Program application period is now open through June 10, 2026! You can apply below in your preferred language.

The Australian Tropical Herbarium is pleased to announce dates for its annual Rainforest Plant Identification courses. Targeted at the interested layperson, the three-day introductory workshop will:

• Describe the characteristics and values of Australia’s tropical rainforests
• Teach you the terminology used to identify Australian tropical rainforest plants
• Introduce you to the free online tools used for rainforest plant identification
• Review the field identification characteristics of important rainforest plant families

This year we will be presenting courses at James Cook University’s Nguma-bada Campus in Smithfield, Cairns, and at the Daintree Rainforest Observatory at Cape Tribulation.

Dates for the three-day courses are:

• James Cook University: Friday 10 July to Sunday 12 July 2026 inclusive.
• Daintree Rainforest Observatory: Friday 4 December to Sunday 6 December inclusive.

We will provide information on course content, costs, accommodation options, catering arrangements and enrolment at the end of May.

Look forward to seeing you!

Please contact [email protected] for further info.
Updates will also be provided on the TESS website Events and Opportunities page.

A meta-study reveals mechanisms of animals' adaptations to cope with climate change. Thank you to TESSians Martijn van de Pol and Lyanne Brouwer for their work on this outstanding study. An accessible short summary can be found here: https://phys.org/news/2026-01-meta-reveals-mechanisms-animals-cope.html but if you would like to read the full open access version of the paper, please follow this link: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-025-68172-8

Hello TESSians! Today some research results from 83 years of observations on trees. Thanks to all the authors involved in this including our own Mike Liddell. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41477-025-02188-2

And congratulations to Jayden, Bill, Yoko and colleagues on their paper published in PNAS. If you would like to read the full open access version of the paper, please follow this link: https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2502426122

Happy New Year TESSians🤸‍♀️

Please join me in congratulating Lisa Davenport and colleagues on the publication their recent paper in Ornithology Research. If you would like to read the full open access version of the paper, please follow this link: https://doi.org/10.1007/s43388-025-00261-0

Good afternoon TESSians, We have been asked to enlist your help in saving microbat habitats, as follows:

MICROBATS URGENTLY NEED OUR HELP!

Please support the Environment and Microbat Petition.

https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-the-Assembly/Petitions/Petition-Details?id=4337

The Department of Transport and Main Roads in Queensland has a doctrine of providing fauna sensitive transport infrastructure for threatened microbats, stating that microbats are protected and encouraged.

The documentation is listed in the Department of Transport and Main Roads’ manual “Fauna Sensitive Transport Infrastructure Delivery Chapter 11: Species profile – Microbats”, June 2024.

The new Barron River Bridge to be built at Kuranda will be a cantilever bridge design, similar to the Congress Bridge in Austin, Texas, USA, where 1.5 million microbats live. This bridge was designed and constructed without the knowledge that it would become the perfect habitat for microbats.

Microbats are an extremely vital part of the Australian environment and perform many ecosystem services, including insect control and pollination. They eat large quantities of insects which damage crops each night, including mosquitoes which are a health risk to humans.

Land use changes as a result of urban and residential developments, mining, forestry and agriculture all reduce the microbats’ habitat and thereby dramatically reduce their numbers. Under the Environment Protection Authority, a number of microbat species are classified as threatened.
Australia is blessed with 77 species of insectivorous microbats, Queensland alone has 55 species of microbats, 36 of these being in a 50 km radius of the Cairns region which includes Kuranda, 12 of these are threatened microbat species under the Environment Protection Authority.

We are therefore calling on the Queensland State and Federal Governments to ensure that all new road bridges, including the new Barron River bridge, and large drainage culverts be built as microbat friendly bridges and structures, similar to what New South Wales and other countries are currently doing. The fact is that it will not add to the construction cost of the bridge to achieve this goal, yet it will be a massive environmental and economic win for Australia as a whole.