Fiona Taylor is a Humanities and Geography teacher at Coburg High School, a local resident, and a member of the Merri Birdies, one of the WaterWatch groups along the Merri Creek .
What’s your favourite spot on the Merri Creek?
There are too many to choose! One I love is where we do the Merri Birdies and Waterwatch monitoring with our Coburg High students, opposite De Chene Reserve. It’s quite enclosed under the trees, and the sound of water flowing over the rocks is so peaceful.
I also love riding along the track, especially in drizzly rain. I always arrive in the best mood after riding along the creek.
Favourite time of year?
I love spring – the cygnets and ducklings and the wattle and eucalypts flowering, seeing deep into the creek, inspecting the fish and creek bed.
Can you share a special moment when you connected with nature on the Merri?
I’m obsessed with seeing and hearing native animals in and around the creek. I’ve spotted turtles, rakali, wallabies and tons of birds. I’ve witnessed cormorants catch fish, throw it in the air and down their throats! Last summer my daughter and I attended a frog-monitoring workshop at the new Fawkner wetlands. We love listening out for frogs and trying to identify them.
Do children connect with nature in a way that is different from adults?
The creek has been an important part of my own children’s upbringing. It’s our special place full of memories. During lockdown, we’d have picnics on the rocks in the creek or walk over to the North Coburg tree house.
Some Year 7s starting at our school already have a deep connection with nature through playing and riding along the creek. Others are rediscovering it or experiencing it for the first time.
Taking my class to the creek sparks playfulness, adventure, and curiosity. At first, some are reserved, but soon they’re inventing games and running wild!
How do teenagers benefit from spending time along the creek and learning about its ecology?
It’s a wonderful place to learn – about taking manageable risks, but also developing skills in making observations and measurements. It’s a great hands-on environment for learning about the water cycle, ecology and geology, human impacts and conservation. Students develop curiosity and concern for natural and human forces shaping our environment. There is a sense of connection to this beautiful environment, pleasure in spending time there, and (for some at least) an emerging sense of ‘care’ – a desire to care for the environment.
Why is the natural surrounds of the Merri Creek a great playground and classroom for teenagers?
Our Year 7s do a geographic inquiry: “How healthy is our local waterway?” They conduct fieldwork, including water-testing with MCMC, and research to answer their own questions about the creek’s health. The thrill of sighting rare birds, animals interacting in the wild, or an unusual plant flowering sparks enthusiasm and curiosity that carries back to the classroom.
In the final stage they design and carry out an action to improve the creek’s health. So far, actions include rubbish clean-ups, letter-writing and educating their families, but I’m hoping in future that these ‘actions’ can become more connected with all the amazing people caring for the creek already. In future I would love all our students to engage in citizen science and real-world conservation work around the creek.
There is something very inspiring as students realise that what we get to enjoy is the fruit of the labours of many community activists – that improving natural environments and repairing harm is both possible and enriching.
What have you enjoyed most about working alongside MCMC?
As a member of the Merri Birdies, I monitor water-quality at De Chene Bridge monthly. The Waterwatch training MCMC ran for us was excellent. We have three scientists in the group who keep us on track with the standard of the testing. The quality of the conversation and shared sense of commitment within the group is really enjoyable.
