Centre for Australian National Biodiversity
Research
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Centre for Australian National Biodiversity
Research
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2008 represented the sixteenth year that the Student’s Volunteer Botanical Internship Program (SVBIP) has been run. Eleven interns completed the 2008 Program, representing nine institutions, making a total since the program's inception (1992) of 242 students.
Output achieved by the Interns during 2008 was approximately equivalent to just under one person-year of technical labour. Work output levels continue to be very satisfactory, with major contributions in the curatorial area in specimen incorporation, mounting, and elimination of backlogs of donated specimens, as well as determining specimen geocodes and general lab and herbarium tasks. Significant assistance was provided to Loans with over 4500 specimens processed as part of both outgoing and incoming returned loans.
Along with curation work, interns provided research assistance to a number of the CPBR research scientists. Assistance was again provided to research groups such as orchids, with a particular focus on ordering of the floral card collection. Significant assistance was also provided to cryptogams with a number of tasks completed.
For the first time, interns provided assistance to the Plant Records section of the Australian National Botanic Gardens, helping with the stocktake of the living collection. Interns also moved the Public Reference Herbarium from the ANBG library to its new home in the Botanical Resources Centre and began cross referencing the collections with the corresponding collection in the ANH.
Fieldwork in 2008 followed the well-established format of previous years. The first trip was a one-day drive with Andrew Slee, who led the interns through sites around Queanbeyan, Captains Flat and Tallaganda State Forest, introducing them to many of the local eucalypt species.
The four-day residential field trip was held again at Jervis Bay. Interns once again surveyed a number of woodland and heath communities in Booderee National Park to assess the vegetation’s response to fire. The students also enjoyed a tour around the new Koori section of the Booderee Botanic Gardens, a tour of Bitou Bush control sites and a discussion of park and reserve management issues with members of the Booderee National Park and Botanic Gardens staff.
The perennial problem of accommodation for interstate participants remains a major issue. Our inability to offer subsidies for accommodation for out-of-town interns has restricted our field of potential applicants. Most students avoided the high priced ANU colleges this year, finding short-term share accommodation off campus. A number of CSIRO and DEWHA staff also generously billeted rooms to students. Accommodation costs are the single biggest issue mentioned by students first starting the Program.
The following Universities provide accreditation for the program:
State |
Institution |
Numbers |
ACT |
Australian National University, Canberra |
55 |
|
University of Canberra |
18 |
|
Canberra Institute of Technology |
12 |
|
Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra |
6 |
|
Department of the Environment and Heritage |
1 |
|
Booderee Botanic Gardens, Jervis Bay |
1 |
NSW |
Macquarie University, Sydney |
11 |
|
University of Technology, Sydney |
9 |
|
Charles Sturt University , Wagga Wagga & Albury |
9 |
|
University of New England , Armidale |
9 |
|
University of Sydney |
8 |
|
University of New South Wales, Sydney |
6 |
|
University of Newcastle |
5 |
|
Southern Cross University |
3 |
|
University of Wollongong |
4 |
|
Janet Cosh Herbarium (UW) |
1 |
|
University of Western Sydney |
1 |
VIC |
University of Melbourne |
17 |
|
Monash University |
8 |
|
Latrobe University, Melbourne |
4 |
|
Deakin University |
3 |
|
Forestech, East Gippsland TAFE |
1 |
QLD |
University of Queensland , Brisbane |
11 |
|
James Cook University |
10 |
|
Griffith University |
2 |
|
Queensland University of Technology |
1 |
|
University of the Sunshine Coast |
1 |
|
University of Southern Queensland |
1 |
|
Central Queensland University |
1 |
NT |
Charles Darwin University |
2 |
SA |
Adelaide University |
3 |
|
Flinders University |
1 |
|
University of South Australia |
1 |
TAS |
University of Tasmania |
2 |
WA |
Curtin University |
1 |
|
Murdoch University, Perth |
1 |
|
West Coast TAFE |
1 |
International |
North America |
5 |
|
Europe |
3 |
|
Asia |
3 |
Total |
47 |
242 |