Bringing NGT staff together in Mildura to reflect on another big year in 2024
At the very end of October 2024, many members of the diverse team from across NGT came together for 2 days, to participate in our annual staff workshop – which was held in Mildura for the first time. With NGT staff now based in many locations between Adelaide and Hobart – as you can see on the map here – it is a bit of a logistical exercise to bring everyone together, but it was well worth the effort!
The gathering was a great chance to discuss the past year, explore upcoming plans and to hear from a range of staff who shared updates on the wide range of work going on across NGT. It is also a rare chance to our team to come together and connect with each other in person, rather than remotely!
For those that don’t know, two NGT aquatic ecology staff, Scott Huntley and Taylar Pay, are based in Mildura and undertake a wide range of native freshwater fish monitoring, research and recovery projects in the Murray Darling Basin; work we undertake in partnership with many different organisations. So while we were in Mildura, it was great to learn more, visit some of the project sites and see some of the outcomes from their efforts up close.
For example, we visited the surrogate dams that have been established as part of a partnership with North West Aquaculture to help with the recovery of two threatened fish species, Murray Hardyhead and Olive Perchlet. We also visited the Mildura Riverfront to a wetland that has been used to successfully establish a population of the Southern Purple Spotted Gudgeon.
To show just how well these little guys can bunker down during floods, it was fantastic to hear how the species was found to have successfully held tight to their habitat within this site, despite going under a torrent of deep water and being fully connected to the main river channel for an extended period in the last flood. Now that the introduced fish species that found their way into this wetland during that time have been removed, it was great to learn that the gudgeons have the place back to themselves!
Our last stop before the wrapped up this year’s staff workshop was a visit to Fiona and Phil from Mallee Conservation and their property Raakajlim. It was a real treat to learn all about the property, including how a range of management issues are being tackled, from weeds and pigs, to overabundant kangaroo browsing pressure. We also went searching for the Arid Bronze Azure Butterfly (with some of us lucky enough to get a glimpse) and checked out the Sugar Ants which perform an amazing role in the butterfly’s life cycle. A big thanks to Fiona and Phil for hosting us for a fascinating visit!
