Elissa Nicolaci and Hayley Perkins

Each year, the RCAAE offer summer Research Opportunities for Undergraduates. Typically, students work with Centre scientists on a range of research projects, including long-term monitoring, rare plant ecology, climate change and weed invasions. They are based at Falls Creek for 4 weeks, living and breathing the life of a field biologist. In 2025, Elissa and Hayley worked with the Centre; here’s a brief reflection of their time in the Alps.

Our time spent in Falls Creek working with the Research Centre for Applied Alpine Ecology was such an incredible learning experience. We’ve developed strong plant identification skills, learning to recognise a wide range of alpine species from a variety of plant families. Conducting floristic studies  introduced us to an array of ecological surveying techniques, and we’ve developed other important field skills, like navigating to study sites and plots using maps and a compass. 

This opportunity has also given us valuable insights into the research process. Seeing firsthand how ideas and observations are developed into further research and experiments was fascinating. The starting point for any ecological study is observation – we now feel much more capable of ‘reading the landscape’ and understanding how to ask a question. We also gained practical skills in data entry and simple analysis, and a greater understanding of how fieldwork connects to broader scientific inquiry. 

What we enjoyed the most was hiking to remote study sites and building the confidence and capability to conduct independent fieldwork. Learning plant ID and ecological concepts deepened our appreciation for the region and exploring places we might never have visited otherwise has sparked a passion for the Alps and a strong desire to contribute to its protection and future research.  We highly recommend any student with an emerging passion for plants, landscapes, ecology and nature conservation to apply for future summer research student opportunities.