Young Achiever
Glenis McBurnie
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Bachelor of Science student, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, previously Alice Springs Desert Park, Northern Territory
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Glenis has a string
of achievements under her belt. She won the International
Plant Propagators Society Rod Tallis youth award for her report on the
“Germination of central Australian plant seed after long-term storage”, which
she presented at their conference and is published in their proceedings. She
also won the Northern Territory Young Achievers Environment award for her
research with native plants and work with The Year of the Outback (2003); the
Alice Springs Desert Park gave her an award for excellence.
I was born and raised in Alice Springs and spent a lot of time camping and exploring the bush with my family, so my interest in my research must have stemmed from there. After year 12, I undertook a Green Corps traineeship and an apprenticeship at the Alice Springs Desert Park, both of which involved horticultural work with native plants and field work. My interest in the plants and ecology of deserts and arid areas grew and the Desert Park allowed me to undertake research on seed germination of central Australian species after long-term storage and the germination of central Australian ferns from spore. These projects were so fascinating that I felt compelled to learn even more and decided to undertake a Bachelor of Science.
I am currently living in Darwin,
which I enjoy very much, however to be honest
I am still totally in love with central Australia. While it is interesting
learning about savannas and tropical plants and ecosystems, my true love is
the deserts. The thing I love the most about the deserts of Australia is their
surprising diversity and the incredible adaptations of organisms to cope in
such extremes. I like the beach, but you can give me a hot red sand dune any
day!
My favourite subject at the moment is Terrestrial Plants. I’m learning all the intricacies of plants and answering many of the questions I had with my horticultural work. My most current project was with Charles Darwin University. I was employed as a research assistant for a germination trial to test the germination and death rate of weed species in mulch piles. It doesn’t sound too glamorous but it was still fun digging around in huge mulch piles and I enjoyed the lab work too.
My current goal is to finish my degree! Oh and hopefully come back to Alice to work and learn more about the environment I love.
I have many fond memories of my
childhood in central Australia and the ever changing environment. One camping
weekend I went canoeing with my Dad on a large, recently filled salt lake. We
decided to head for a small island in the middle of the lake and found it
quite easy going due to the strong wind. It was all very pleasant until we had
to turn around and head back to the shore! The head wind was so strong that we
couldn’t get anywhere and the canoe kept going round in circles due to the
uneven weight distribution (me being so much lighter than my Dad). Eventually
Dad decided to try and drag us back instead, only when he got out he sank up
to his knees in squishy clay and couldn’t get far at all. It was then up to me
to ‘save the day’ by shuffling on my knees and shins (to give a greater
surface area) and dragging my Dad in the canoe all the way back to the shore.
We then had to walk back another km or so back to the vehicles. What an
adventure!
To relieve stress I like to salsa. It is so much fun and is great exercise too. The first salsa party I went to I danced so hard that I rubbed the skin off my toes and they bled (ouch). I learned an important lesson – don’t salsa barefoot on pavers, even if you are having a good time. I also unwind by taking the dog to Nightcliff beach at sunset every day.
We asked Glenis about someone who has inspired her in her research and why:
I am inspired by many people: my family who love nature, my friends Simon Watkinson and Denise Allen who are scientists and who encouraged me to study science, and my colleagues from the Desert Park, especially Mark Richardson who allowed me to explore and learn about native plants.
Books or reading material Glenis recommends on her area of research:
My favourite plant book is Biology of Plants. 6th Edition by Raven, Evert and Eichhorn (1999). It takes you through every aspect of plants and is very well written, especially for students. I use it for lots of things. It also includes biology basics, chemistry, ecology and soils. What more could you want!
