From AI-powered birdcall monitors to pheromone-based toad traps and smartphone apps that help identify microbats, these four inspiring women are harnessing cutting-edge technology to protect Australia’s precious ecosystems. Each of them has been selected to speak at the 2025 National Landcare Conference on the Gold Coast this September. This honour recognises their commitment to conservation and their ability to think creatively, act locally, and lead nationally on matters of tech for nature.
Dr Elia Pirtle: Building Biolinks with AI and Citizen Science
As the local Landcare facilitator for the Upper Wimmera in Western Victoria, Dr Elia Pirtle is helping regional communities connect landscapes and people. “My job is to help each local group of landcare volunteers work together to achieve greater impacts across our connected landscape,” she explains. “I particularly focus on helping our groups adopt more scientific methods and new technologies to maximise the ecological benefits of their projects.”
Elia introduced her community to tools like iNaturalist and AI-powered monitoring stations that operate fully off-grid and report live. “A recent exciting milestone was setting up our very first fully automated, AI powered, off-grid, and live reporting bird call monitoring and nocturnal mammal monitoring stations,” she says. These high-tech tools are making biodiversity mapping more accurate—and accessible.
Crucially, this technology enables everyday people to contribute to conservation. “A key benefit of these new technologies is that they allow anyone to participate in biodiversity data collection; You don’t require any prior bird expertise,” says Elia. “This demonstrates technology’s power in conservation – not replacing human effort, but enabling broader community participation than ever before.”
Kristina Duncombe: Beating Cane Toads with Chemistry and Community
From the Sunshine Coast, Kristina Duncombe of Watergum Community Inc. is making serious strides in invasive species control. Her presentation at the Landcare Conference focuses on pheromone-based tadpole trapping, a far more targeted solution than traditional methods. “Our flagship Cane Toad Challenge is one of those programs where we see over 5,000 people nationally get involved in active invasive species control,” she shares.
Kristina oversees projects that combine tech with grassroots action. “To date we have removed over one million cane toads at all life stages since the start of this venture, with 199,231 busted in the recent season alone,” she says. These results are thanks to a combination of community-led events like the Cane Toad Great Bust and the production of Watergum’s specially designed traps and lures.
Looking ahead, Kristina is hopeful about expanding the scope of this success. “We are currently also working on some exciting partnerships and future research projects that will hopefully introduce new tools for cane toad control,” she says. “These tools are designed to complement trapping efforts and help maximise the effectiveness of cane toad removal.”
Chantelle Geissler: Trapping Cats with High-Tech Tools on Kangaroo Island
On South Australia’s Kangaroo Island, feral cats pose a serious threat to biodiversity. But, Chantelle Geissler from the Kangaroo Island Landscape Board is tackling these predators with smart technology and local teamwork. “I have been in my current role for over a year and a half but have spent almost the last 5 years on Kangaroo Island working on feral cat programs,” she says.
Chantelle manages Australia’s largest Celium network – over 1,000 connected traps – which play a central role in the island’s Feral Cat Eradication Program. “A big part of this is managing Australia’s largest Celium network… and also often involves being IT support for the field crew (‘have you tried turning it off and on again?’),” she jokes.
Her team’s achievements are impressive: “Working together with a dedicated community and keen landholders has seen us reach some incredible milestones, including the biggest reduction in the feral cat population since the program began,” she shares. And the future is bright: “Ideally, we would love to combine the technology we currently use with other mechanisms, to introduce even more efficiencies and a more advanced, high-tech and practical feral cat trap.”
Luise Manning: Using Apps, Audio, and Action to Protect Biodiversity
Since 2017, Luise Manning has led Springfield Lakes Nature Care in Queensland with passion and purpose. “My main role has been educating the public about the biodiversity in our catchment to ensure the four lakes and local creeks remain a thriving ecosystem,” she says.
From squirrel gliders to microbats and even frogs that only call in large rain events, Luise and her team have documented a treasure trove of biodiversity in their region. “Surveying the nest boxes has seen a significant growth of squirrel gliders using the nest boxes with all 10 smaller rear entry boxes being occupied,” she notes. They’ve also discovered eight microbat species thanks to new echolocation analysis tools.
SLNC uses a variety of smartphone apps – FrogID, iNaturalist, Waterbug Blitz, and Eye on Water – to monitor environmental health and identify everything from weeds to water quality. “Being educated about the impacts humans have on sustaining wildlife population so we are not adding to the extinction list,” Luise says, “and getting involved in Citizen Science activities… can help prevent problems spreading into sensitive ecosystems.”
For Luise, tech is a means to empower and engage. “Our Landcare group uses a few apps to help us document biodiversity… These have also been useful in identifying invasive weeds eg Giant Salvinia,” she says. “Continual monitoring of waterways & habitat is the only way to observe if the population is increasing or declining.”
Ultimately, beyond the (well-deserved) accolades, the work of these women reminds us that the future of land care doesn’t just belong to the scientists in labs. It belongs to all of us with a phone in our pocket, a network to connect to, and a shared purpose to protect the planet.
