Cycling From Canberra to Melbourne for #CitSciOz25 and Active Hope

On Thursday morning, I’ll be getting up early to cycle over 700km from Canberra to Melbourne - not just for fitness or fun, but as an act of Active Hope.

I’m riding to deliver my keynote at the Citizen Science Conference 2025 (#CitSciOz25), where I’ll be speaking on “Healing Country, Empowering Communities: Citizen Science for a Resilient Future.”

This ride is my way of living what I’ll be talking about: citizen action, connection to Country, and the power of ordinary people doing things that can add up to make a difference.

Citizen science and citizen action are two sides of the same coin. Both remind us that hope isn’t something we wait for - it’s something we do.

When I pedal those kilometres from Ngunnawal Country to Naarm, I’ll be thinking about the thousands of citizen scientists across Australia who are watching birds, measuring water quality, recording frog calls, restoring wetlands, and documenting change on Country. Each of them is practising Active Hope. They’re transforming care into knowledge, and knowledge into action.

If you’re in Melbourne, I’d love you to join me and the amazing community of citizen scientists, researchers, and First Nations knowledge holders at #CitSciOz25.

👉 Register here: https://citizenscience.org.au/conference-registration-is-now-open/

Even if you can’t attend in person, you can follow the discussions and inspiration online using #CitSciOz25 - there’ll be incredible stories, discoveries, and examples of citizen science in action shared throughout the week.

This ride, and this conference, are both about one thing: turning care into action. Because when citizens come together to heal Country, we heal ourselves too.

#eBike4Australia #ActiveHope #CitizenScience #ClimateAction #HealingCountry #CitSciOz25

Thanks to my friend Fiona Bowring for taking this photo. You can find her on Insta @Fionabg_.