Are you passionate about our local native animals and wonder how scientists research and monitor our wildlife? Border residents can take part in monitoring our local endangered animals in the upcoming Thurgoona Bioblitz 2012, a community wildlife event to be held on Friday 18 and Saturday 19 May in and around Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Albury-Wodonga. These free events will involve wildlife surveys to be conducted around Thurgoona, including spotlighting nest boxes for Squirrel Gliders, trapping bats and small animals, bird watching, identifying frog calls, and searching for lizards. The surveys will be led by expert ecologists from CSU and other organisations, and the collected data will be added to the Atlas of Living Australia, an online national database of Australia’s flora and fauna. Organised by the Slopes2Summit partnership, which includes CSU, and the Woolshed Thurgoona Landcare Group, the Friday event will be for school students, while events scheduled for Friday evening and Saturday will involve the wider community. Slopes2Summit facilitator Mr Sam Niedra said the Bioblitz allows schools and the general community to experience and learn about Thurgoona’s rich diversity of animal species, while collecting records “to improve our knowledge of what’s happening in the Thurgoona landscape, and be better informed about how these animals can be conserved into the future”.