Moreton Bay Research Station

Science camps

Photo: Lucy Trippett
Photo: Lucy Trippett

The UQ Stradbroke Island Science Camp program encourages pre-university and senior high school students to pursue their interests through hands-on learning experiences.

The rich biodiversity, history and cultural heritage of North Stradbroke Island and its surrounding waters offer a unique learning environment in which to experiment and explore. 

Camp participants live and learn on site at Moreton Bay Research Station and get a taste of field conditions and how facilities and laboratories function at a working research station. Groups from Australia and overseas are welcome to visit us for a camp.

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Hands-on activities

We work with school teachers and UQ academics to develop curriculum-aligned terrestrial, intertidal and marine learning programs that meet expectations of senior biology, earth and environmental science, geography and marine science syllabuses.

We tailor programs to suit your group’s needs. See a selection, below, of recent camp activities, and full activity schedules on our science camps brochure (PDF, 1.6 MB).

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Environmental weeds
Investigate non-native or weedy species of plants and examine what makes them so successful on North Stradbroke Island.
Fire ecology
Visit recent fire sites to investigate the interactions between fire and the abiotic and biotic components of an ecosystem, and observe plant adaptation to fire ecology.
Freshwater ecosystems
Collect specimens from a swamp and a lake to compare data such as hydrogeology, abiotic factors, species diversity and water quality.
Marine debris impacts
Collect a range of marine debris from beaches and analyse the most abundant items to find clues about their origins.
Intertidal rocky shores
Analyse the abiotic factors of an intertidal zone and how they’re linked to species diversity within low, mid and high intertidal zones.
Sand dune succession
Record and observe vegetation diversity and physical changes from the high tide mark inland towards established woodlands.
Seine netting and fish identification
Collect live fish to identify species and examine morphologies that relate to feeding mechanisms and predator avoidance strategies.
The role of plankton
Identify and observe the organisms that make up plankton, and discover plankton’s role in marine food webs and life cycles.