Two students from Capella State High School (325km west of Rockhampton) have been immersed in the Healthy Harbours and Habitats Grand Challenge through QVSA at CQ.
On October 16th Maccalyn and Zoee participated in the Grand Challenge excursion to the Gladstone Harbour. Having travelled the almost four hour trip to Rockhampton the previous day, they travelled the further two hours to be part of a very special program where they explored the ecological and economic impact of introduced and invasive species and the importance of seagrass meadows to the Gladstone harbour ecosystem.
These two students had interacted online with other learners from Gladstone, Rockhampton, Cawarral and Mount Morgan but meeting them in person created a whole new level of collaboration. Maccalyn and Zoee travelled from Rockhampton to Gladstone with students from Cawarral State School and acted as mentors to the younger students for the day.
All students engaged with the Healthy Harbours and Habitats Grand Challenge have been mentored by Associate Professor Emma Jackson who helped organise and run the excursion to Curtis Island where seagrass meadows are a focus of her world-first study on the importance of seagrass to the ocean.