In this time of social isolation, what could be better than taking a moment to learn a little more about the plants and animals we share our homes with? As our worlds are getting smaller, we make them bigger by paying attention to the details.

The Urban Field Naturalist Project

Wildlife exists all around us: in our backyards, on our balconies, in parks and disused industrial areas. The urban environment is home to a diverse array of other living creatures, from ants, spiders, and snails, to birds, possums, lizards, and even those wayward weeds emerging through cracks in the footpath. If we pay attention, each of them is an invitation into a unique and intricate mode of life, into an entire world of growth and decay, of communication and sensation, going on right under our noses.

Featured Stories

A Murder of Crows
Erin Roger
Overhead were probably 50 crows perched on telephone wires. Like the crow on the ground, they were quiet.
Wandering at Strange Hours
Ryan Powell
Me being there at 5 in the morning was clearly a breach of some unwritten contract between fox and human.
Rain, Rain, Come Again
Kumudika de Silva
Some fly to neighbouring trees and continue the same raucous behaviour. They seem to be revelling in this rain.
'Austroaeschna obscura'?
Paul Hadley
To the naked eye it is a rather plain dragonfly but closer observation reveals a spectacular insect.

Project Team

A collaboration between design, digital and environmental humanities, and life sciences. The project provides resources to help people notice wildlife in urban environments, and turn these observations into shareable stories.
Dr Andrew Burrell

Spec Studio, School of Design
University of Technology Sydney

andrewburrell.net
Prof. Dieter Hochuli

School of Life and Environmental Sciences
The University of Sydney

sydney.edu.au
Dr John Martin

Institute for Science & Learning
Taronga Conservation Society Australia

taronga.org.au
A/Prof. Thom van Dooren

School of Philosophical and Historical Inquiry, University of Sydney /
Oslo School of Environmental Humanities, University of Oslo

thomvandooren.org
Dr Zoë Sadokierski

Spec Studio, School of Design
University of Technology Sydney

zoesadokierski.com