Wild Yeast Zoo Adventures at 2023/4 Woodford Folk Festival
The Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, Inspiring Australia through both their NSW and Queensland arms and Woodford organisers supported our exciting journey at the 2023/4 Woodford Folk Festival, where more than 2,000 local, national and international, artists, musicians and presenters put on over 500 acts to an audience of an estimated 132,000 people.
The Wild Yeast Zoo team with citizen scientists at Woodford Folk Festival. Image Credit: Katherine Williams
Our team delivered a public lecture to a packed audience about the importance of yeast, participated in discussion forums and led citizen science walking tours throughout the week-long festival with participant goers, who helped the team collect a large number of samples for analysis.
The festival is held on a former dairy farm, now regenerated with over 120,000 subtropical rain forest trees, orchids, ferns and sedges, planted to create a habitat for butterflies and wildlife near Woodford in southeast Queensland.
The Zoo crew gaining samples with citizen scientists at the beautiful Woodford site. Image Credit: Katherine Williams
Claudia Holt, a PhD candidate at the University of Newcastle and a member of the team, shared her excitement about the promising early lab results. She said, "Numerous interesting microorganisms are appearing.
While we're still in the initial stages of isolating yeast, we've already uncovered a substantial collection. In the coming weeks, we will be running tests to unveil what these microorganisms actually are and what cool things they can do."
Zoo member Ass Prof Amy Cain, a Synthetic Biology Expert at Macquarie University, emphasised the importance of exploring our native plants for Australian yeast. She said, “can discover funky home-grown yeasts that can be used for important things in our daily life, such as beer brewing. With the help of festival-goers, we hope to find some new species from the Woodford site.”
Our public lecture had a packed house! Image Credit: Katherine Williams
Dr Chris Lean, a Philosopher of Science at Macquarie, viewed the Woodford experience as an excellent opportunity for publicly engaged science. He said, “there was an immense interest in the incredible value of Australia's natural environment and we were fortunate to be able to give attendees the means to discover a little more about our unique microscopic world.”
Dr Ben Matthews, a Communication and Design Expert at UON, reflected on the team's successful trip to Woodford. He said, "From a science communication and engagement perspective, our trip to Woodford was a stunning success! The Wild Yeast Zoo is itself a wild mix of experts from very different backgrounds and a range of universities, so bringing us together in a scrum at Woodford was the perfect way to let the power of diversity shine.
We could not have done it without incredible support from Inspiring Australia through both their NSW and Queensland arms, and of course from the Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, and we’re super grateful to the Woodfordorganisers for putting so much of their program and resources aside to help us communicate the ecological significance of synthetic biology.”
Gallery: the Zoo crew in action at Woodford, all images by Katherine Williams
