Bellingen Riverwatch Steering Committee

The Bellingen Riverwatch Steering Committee brings together an array of scientific expertise in the areas of ecology, invertebrate taxonomy, citizen science project design, land management, monitoring and evaluation, aquatic ecology and water quality monitoring.

  • Dr Melissa Giese

    Senior Team Leader, Ecosystems and Threatened Species (North East), Biodiversity Conservation and Science, Department of Planning and Environment

    Panel speaker, project management and program design advisor, partnerships advisor, macroinvertebrate mentor.

  • Dr Nakia Belmer

    Scientist - Estuaries and Catchments, Science Division, Department of Planning and Environment

    Technical writer and presenter, workshop facilitator, community educator, panel speaker, program design, science and technical advisor, water quality advisor, macroinvertebrate teacher, data interpretation advisor, macroinvertebrate photographer.

  • Dean Kelly

    Yurruungga Aboriginal Corporation

  • Adrian Dickson

    Senior Scientist River Assessment – Estuaries and Catchments Science, Science, Economics and Insights, Department of Planning and Environment

    Technical writer and presenter, workshop facilitator, community educator, panel speaker, program design, science and technical advisor, water quality advisor, macroinvertebrate teacher, data interpretation advisor.

  • Daniel Cain

    Senior Project Officer - Threatened Species, Biodiversity and Conservation, Department of Planning and Environment

    Advisor for Bellinger River Snapping Turtle recovery, project management and program design advisor, partnerships advisor, macroinvertebrate mentor.

  • Asheley Goodwill

    Senior Land Services Officer, Natural Asset Protection, North Coast Local Land Services

    Panel speaker, program design and technical advisor, macroinvertebrate helper.

  • Celeste Lymn

    River and Biodiversity Officer, Bellingen Shire Council

  • Andrew Yager

    Project Manager, Bellinger Landcare

    Workshop facilitator, community educator, panel speaker, program design and technical advisor.

  • Justine Elder

    Elder Enviro

    Workshop facilitator, community educator, panel speaker, project management and program design advisor, technical advisor, macroinvertebrate teacher and water quality mentor.

  • Charelle Harkins

    Volunteer, Bellingen Riverwatch.

    Macroinvertebrate teacher, program design advisor.

  • Shane Ruming

    Threatened Species Officer, Saving our Species, Department of Planning and Environment

    Advisor on Bellinger River Snapping Turtle recovery, program design advisor, macroinvertebrate teacher, Site B1 water quality tester, macroinvertebrate photographer.

  • Chris Ormond

    Threatened Species Officer, Saving our Species, Department of Planning and Environment

    Advisor on Bellinger River Snapping Turtle recovery, macroinvertebrate helper.

  • Sue Lennox

    Co-Founder, OzGREEN

    Program design and partnerships advisor, water quality mentor.

  • John Schmidt

    Senior Coast and Estuary Officer, Biodiversity and Conservation Division

    Water, Floodplains & Coast (North East), Department of Planning and Environment

    Panel speaker, project management, program design advisor, technical advisor, data interpretation and science communication advisor.

  • Ingrid Garland

    Apex Enviro Solutions, NSW Waterwatch

    Workshop facilitator, community educator, panel speaker, project management and program design advisor, technical advisor, macroinvertebrate teacher and water quality mentor.

Looking to contact the Bellingen Riverwatch Steering Committee?

Amy Denshire

Bellingen Riverwatch Program Manager, Bellingen Riverwatch Steering Committee Chair

From the Bellingen Riverwatch Steering Committee

  • “Bellingen Riverwatch is taking citizen science forward and by working together with government, consultants and researchers, are ensuring the data collected is useful, informative, timely and valuable for informing holistic management of waterways and the species they support.”

    - Adrian Dickson, Senior Scientist, Water Sciences Division, NSW Planning and Environment

  • “The ongoing recovery of the Bellinger River Snapping Turtle in the Bellinger Catchment is linked directly to the aquatic macroinvertebrate communities of the catchment’s rivers. Not only are aquatic macroinvertebrates an important component of the Bellinger River Snapping Turtle diet, the macroinvertebrate communities are sensitive to changes in water quality and will, therefore, be an important indicator of river health into the future.”

    - Shane Ruming, Saving our Species, Department of Planning & Environment

BELLINGEN RIVERWATCH steering commitee piublishes paper in FRONTIERS, international ENVIRONMENTAL science journal

Published January 2024

Can citizen science inform science?

Evaluating the results of the Bellingen Riverwatch citizen science program and a complimentary government monitoring program North Coast, NSW, Australia.

Adrian Dickson¹*, Nakia Belmer¹, Amy Denshire², Ingrid Garland³, Sue Lennox², Shane Ruming⁴, Dominic Lawler¹ and Adam Wethered¹, Department of Planning and Environment, EES Laboratories, Lidcombe, NSW, Australia, ² OzGREEN, Bellingen, NSW, Australia, ³ EnviroComm Connections, Hunter Valley (Whittingham), NSW, Australia, ⁴ North East Biodiversity and Conservation, Department of Planning and Environment, Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia

Award-winning program

Bellingen Riverwatch received two River Basin Management Awards in 2023.

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Bellingen Riverwatch receives national award
Bellingen Riverwatch receives national award

Bellingen Riverwatch, one of the largest citizen science water quality monitoring programs in NSW, and the largest citizen science macroinvertebrate monitoring program in Australia, recently received two national awards at the River Basin Management Society Awards Gala.

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