Beneath The Surface — Discover the Wonderful Creatures that Live in the Soil with Angela Rossen

Unearth the fascinating creatures that live in the soil, explore the impact of plastic on our soil ecosystems, and use smartphones or tablets to analyse your backyard soil and create art!

Angela Rossen, a talented artist and biodiversity educator will take us into the mysterious world beneath your feet and uncover the rich biodiversity thriving in the dark soil.

We'll unlock the hidden wonders of soil life by transforming your smartphone or tablet into a powerful microscope. Not only will we analyze the soil, but we will also have the opportunity to observe, marvel at, and draw the incredible tiny creatures that call the soil their home. Angela will help you capture the intricate details of these fascinating organisms.

But that's not all! We will also explore the impact of plastic on our soil ecosystems. By examining familiar plastic products that have broken down and nano plastic from the clothes washing process that can enter the soil environment, we will learn together how to maintain plastic-free gardens and compost.

To make this workshop more hands-on, we encourage children to bring along

A smartphone or tablet,
(OPTIONAL) A sample of soil from their compost or worm farm (securely placed in a jar with air holes)

Date: Thursday, the 12th of July 2023

Time: 10:00 am - 12:00 pm

Price:
– $15 per child (adults to accompany children, tickets required)
– $5 per adult
– $45 per family (2 adults and 3 children)
– Concession tickets available (for concession card holders and other eligible categories)

What to bring:

Water Bottle
Hat / umbrella / raincoat
Wear closed-in shoes
Wear long sleeve shirt and trousers

Provided:

Scientific equipment
Diverse soil samples
Petri dishes and other necessary equipment
Sanitiser hand gel
Drawing and art supplies
Soil Biota resource learning material

Suitable age groups: Children of all ages accompanied by adults

Event location: The Wetlands Centre Cockburn, 184 Hope Road, Bibra Lake WA 6163

GET WILD ABOUT WETLANDS

The Wetlands Centre Cockburn conducts Get Wild About Wetlands school holiday programs every school term break. offers a range of exciting educational sessions, hands-on activities, and eco-walks, talks and night stalks, activities which focus on our wetlands! Registrations are essential. Be quick as sessions book out fast!

This program is made possible thanks to State Natural Resource Management Program WA.
Supported by the City of Cockburn.

About the Presenter

Angela Rossen is an Artist, Biodiversity Educator and Science Communicator. She has run a busy studio practice for over forty years. Since 2009 she has worked with research scientists at the University of Western Australia. Known for her paintings of Western Australian landscape and ocean biodiversity she collaborates with botanists, biologists, chemists, geomorphologists, oceanographers, and researchers who work with nature. She describes her work as reconnecting children and their communities with the wonder of nature and bringing the biology out of the university into the popular imagination. Angela designs and presents site-specific biodiversity workshops, field events and festivals throughout metropolitan, regional and remote Australia with school and community groups to observe and document endemic plants and animals.

Her work is recognised with positions in two scientific research institutions:

Honorary Research Associate with the School of the Biological Sciences at the University of Western Australia
Adjunct Artist with the Australian Institute of Marine Science