High-quality natural science underpins all our efforts to sustainably manage our unique biodiversity for future generations, and an essential aspect of this is offering research grants to university students, funded by donations from our generous supporters. 

Since 2000, Nature Foundation has awarded $1,974,786 in research grants to post-graduate students, academics, and the community to kickstart careers in research, supporting 464 students. 

Brock Hedges was the recipient of the Roy and Marjory Edwards Scholarship in the 2019 research grants round. The scholarship supported his PhD research, with the majority of fieldwork undertaken at Hiltaba Nature Reserve, where he explored the freshwater granite rock-holes in the area. 

The initial Science Strategy, introduced in 2018, outlined the governing principles and research priorities for the Science and Knowledge Program over the next five years. It also described the investment mechanisms and decision-making processes to enable South Australian ecological science to grow and develop, benefiting Nature Foundation, its nature reserves, and the broader community.

In our final Science and Knowledge webinar for 2025, Professor Mike Letnic shared an overview of his research and findings on the topic of whether grazing by kangaroos disrupt the flow of food resources through brown food webs in arid environments.

The "brown food web" refers to the network of organisms that consume dead organic matter, which includes dead plants, animals, and waste. It is a decomposer-based food chain that contrasts with the "green food web," which is based on living plants and algae. Brown food webs are crucial for recycling nutrients, as they provide energy to a wide range of organisms like microbes, fungi, and scavengers that are a food source for other animals.

Welcome to the summer edition of Nature Matters, and our final for the year. We are excited to share our latest updates with you.

This edition features updates from across our nature reserve network, including our latest nature reserve acquisition, Pooginook West, in the Riverland region of South Australia. It also includes updates from our team, recent events and more.

We are seeking your support to kickstart the restoration of Pooginook West, through our Forever Nature Fund Summer Appeal.

Nature Foundation is delighted to announce the acquisition and establishment of its tenth nature reserve, Pooginook West Nature Reserve. This 2,396-hectare reserve is on the traditional lands of the Ngawait people, about 25 kilometres northeast of Waikerie.

Crucially, Pooginook West sits beside Pooginook Conservation Park to significantly increase the connectivity and amount of protected land available for local species. The site will also provide a southward migration pathway for key arid-zone species seeking cooler conditions as the climate changes.