Grey Coupland

Ecology and restoration are Grey's passions. Grey holds a PhD in ecology and has undertaken projects investigating mangrove and seagrass ecology, co-ordinated mass transplanting of seagrass to restore lost seagrass habitat off the south west Australian coast, and investigated how marine production subsidies influence arid terrestrial systems. She has also investigated low impact methods for assessing groundwater contamination.

Currently Grey's research investigates the ecology of Miyawaki (pocket) forests and the use of these forests for urban greening and increasing urban biodiversity in the Australian context.

In addition, Grey brings these pocket forests into schools via a dedicated STEM outreach program that empowers students, enabling them to take tangible environmental action, while also providing them with practical and theoretical STEM learnings. The children act as citizen scientists under the program. The outreach program is one of 150 programs globally that are recognised as part of the UNESCO Green Citizens; initiative, and was a finalist for the Australian Museum Eureka prize for "Innovation in Citizen Science" in 2023.

Grey feels the importance of bringing the ideas of environmental awareness and stewardship to the next generation. Miyawaki forests are a great way of introducing nature into schools and the community, and to enable children and the community to feel that they can make a difference.

See the website on the Miyawaki Forest program www.pocketforestswa.org and follow the program on Instagram @miyawakiforestwa