User Profile

Amanda De George

Vanessa Risku: From drone operator to published citizen scientist

In late May 2025, an original research article published in the journal Frontiers in Marine Science caused a stir in the world of whales. Not only did it share new evidence of where humpbacks give birth, but it also showed the importance of citizen scientists, such as Kiama local Vanessa Risku, whose images informed the study.

Amanda De George

June 2025

Science & Nature

Thousands thrilled as Aurora Australis is visible throughout the Illawarra

I had planned relatively well, or so I thought. My alarm was set for 8:30PM and … that was about it. After an alert went out from the Aurora Australis Facebook page, we rushed out the door earlier than expected and made our way to Bald Hill...

Amanda De George

June 2025

Science & Nature

Glowing fungi found in Thirroul

A few days ago, I hadn’t even heard of the genus Panellus. It was another scientific name of another species I had not yet come across in my travels. Or so I thought. If you’ve been following along, I’m in my fungi era. I’m loving...

Amanda De George

May 2025

Science & Nature

Winter is coming. Here’s how to make it a wild one

Ice-cold temperatures and rain; it’s enough to have you bundling up and hibernating the season away. Add in wine, a good book and throw in a roaring fire for good measure and facing the brisk weather sometimes feels nearly impossible. But we’ve...

Amanda De George

May 2025

Science & Nature

Why fungi hunting is for everyone

Fungi are popping up everywhere right now. I’ve had a couple of rounded earthstars (Geastrum saccatum) burst up from under the clothesline. Side note: I often use common names, despite the confusion they can sometimes cause. I’m all about...

Amanda De George

May 2025

Clubs & Community

Fashion parade highlight at Wollongong weavers and spinners expo

Crocheted bunting and mandalas hung from the sprawling branches of trees and adorned benches and the entry to the community centre in Fairy Meadow. Before even making it inside the annual exhibition from the Wollongong Handweavers and Spinners...

Amanda De George

May 2025

Review

Sculpture in the Garden: a feast for the senses

There’s something a bit whimsical about wandering in search of sculptures in the great outdoors. There’s the squelch of your boots as you traipse across rain-sodden patches of ground, the glistening of strands of spider web as arachnids move...

Amanda De George

April 2025

Science & Nature

A sting in the tail? Blue dragon nudibranchs wash ashore

I’m telling you, blue dragon nudibranchs bring people together. After finding her very first blue dragon (and then another and another) after the recent big seas, my friend excitedly sent me a photo and the location. While I was running and...

Amanda De George

April 2025

Arts & culture

Bianca Hester: Walking through time and process

Bianca Hester does a lot of walking. The now local artist, whose work Circuits of Solar Descent will feature in this year’s Sculpture in the Garden (SitG), started the ritual when moving from Melbourne to Sydney for work in 2013. This practice...

Amanda De George

April 2025

Arts & culture

Nuwa ganda (look up): Handwoven flying foxes headed for Wollongong Botanic Garden

There’s a breadth to Dr Virginia Keft’s work that I’ve had trouble condensing into a few hundred words. She’s a proud Muruwari woman, a multidisciplinary artist and the owner of Illawarra’s longest-running belly dance company, Cinnamon Twist. Her arts practice is wide ranging, and she is currently exhibiting her wearable artwork Women’s Business in Germany, while April will see her take part in Sculpture in the Garden.

Amanda De George

March 2025

Science & Nature

Helensburgh Glowworm Tunnel: should we be gatekeeping the gate?

I tend to err on the side of the dramatic when it comes to wildlife experiences, but some really do deserve the squeals that they induce; cicadas moulting out of their hard exoskeleton, fireflies floating by, their clear bright light signalling for...

Amanda De George

March 2025

Arts & culture

Danny Ivanovski: Sculptor creates steel tribute to trees felled by cedar getters’ saws

Working in steel, local artist Danny Ivanovski has transformed it from an element of destruction to creation in his series exploring the history of a rainforest tree. ”My final sculpture is a red cedar tree stump that I fabricated by cutting, bending, and heat-treating the mild steel. This was the very material that was used by the Cedar Getters to cut down these trees,” he said.

Amanda De George

March 2025

Science & Nature

Turtle-y awesome sighting of two endangered leatherback turtles off Port Kembla

Drones have really changed nature photography. Well, they have for some. I find it hard enough to keep the things in the air, let alone finding sea creatures in an enormous expanse of water, all the while dealing with battery warnings and the...

Amanda De George

March 2025

Arts & culture

Stephanie Quirk: Finding belonging through memory

A childhood memory of running through a clothesline full of freshly washed sheets was the inspiration for artist Stephanie Quirk’s entry into this year’s Sculpture in the Garden. The artist, educator and mother of two will be featured in the inaugural Ephemeral Prize, with finalists chosen for how their work responds to the Wollongong Botanic Garden site.

Amanda De George

March 2025