A year ago Australia was ravaged by fierce bushfires that burned 72,000 square miles and killed at least 34 people. Black Summer resulted in nearly three billion terrestrial vertebrates alone – the vast majority being reptiles – being affected and some endangered species believed to be driven to extinction.
Seed production area Western Sydney: Greening Australia
Recovery depends on restoration of the grasslands, shrub lands, and forests. Greening Australia is one of the organizations working to do so. Its Project Phoenix is leading on a strategic program to build and secure native seed and plant supply for restoration after the devastating Black Summer bushfires.
Michelle Frankel, formerly director at the Greenwich Audubon Center and manager of Audubon Connecticut ‘s Urban Oasis program, is now working for Greening Australia. She and one of her colleagues will bring us up to date on the status of Australia one year after the fires and describe the work being done to reestablish the native plants upon which the indigenous species depend.
Dr. Michelle Frankel leads Greening Australia’s Community Conservation and Social Impact initiatives, after relocating from New York to Sydney, Australia in 2019. She previously worked with the National Audubon Society in both Florida and Connecticut, most recently as the director of the Greenwich Audubon Center and leader of Audubon Connecticut’s Bird-Friendly Communities program. She holds a Ph.D. in behavioral ecology and performed a post-doctoral fellowship studying the impacts of urbanization on the globally threatened lesser kestrel in Israel. She has been leading urban and community-based conservation and environmental education initiatives for the last 20 years in the U.S., Israel and now Australia.
Samantha Craigie is Greening Australia’s Project Phoenix Manager, a strategic program to build and secure native seed and plant supply for restoration after the devastating Black Summer bushfires. Prior to leading Project Phoenix, Samantha played a major role in the development of Greening Australia’s Western Sydney Seed Production Area and represents Greening Australia in the Australian Seedbank Partnership. With a Bachelor of Science from Macquarie University, Samantha began working in Seed in 2001 and has been a keen restoration ecologist for many years.