User Profile

Emma Rooksby

Emma Rooksby is a local volunteer bush regenerator and environmental educator who helped establish the Growing Illawarra Natives website. She is passionate about protecting and restoring local biodiversity in the Illawarra region and collaborates with many groups and individuals who share that passion.

Science & Nature

Gardening for birds

Illawarra native birds are a diverse and interesting lot, with 440 species recorded in Terrill Nordstrom’s 2020 A guide to Birdlife of the Illawarra Region of NSW. With our diverse ecology and coastal areas, the region is home to everything from...

Emma Rooksby

June 2025

Science & Nature

Gardening for lizards

At this time of the year I’m a bit of a lizard myself: very slow to get moving of a morning, and seeking out the sun to warm up. I’m always amazed how much difference a bit of direct sunlight on your skin makes on a chilly winter’s day. It’s already...

Emma Rooksby

June 2025

Science & Nature

Gardening for insects

For example, the Giant Dragonfly (Petalura gigantea) is the only threatened insect species on record in the Illawarra region. But it’s almost certain that there are insects and other invertebrates in the area that are threatened with extinction, or...

Emma Rooksby

May 2025

Science & Nature

Gardening for bandicoots

A few weeks ago, Backyard Zoology had a wonderful article about finding a bandicoot in her back yard. What good fortune to have these amazing creatures around us in the Illawarra. Each of us who has a little patch of ground to play with can help...

Emma Rooksby

May 2025

Science & Nature

The Hare’s Foot Fern of happiness

In some cultures, carrying a rabbit’s foot has been considered to bring good luck. Perhaps it still is? I’ve certainly never tried carrying one around, but I’m always reminded of this bit of folklore when I see one of my favourite local ferns around...

Emma Rooksby

May 2025

Science & Nature

Fruiting now: all sorts of Lilly Pilly

We’re into the European month of May and well into the season of autumn, although it’s still very warm compared with the long-term average for this time of year. In the D’harawal calendar, the indications are that we are in marrai’gang, when it’s...

Emma Rooksby

May 2025

Science & Nature

Fruiting now: the yummy White Aspen

We are fortunate in the Illawarra region to have so many useful and edible native plants. First Nations Peoples have known of and used these plants for many generations, but we more recent arrivals can be unaware of the good things around. One such...

Emma Rooksby

April 2025

Science & Nature

What’s in a name? In this case, a marsupial mystery!

Kangaroo Vine (Cissus antarctica) is one of the commonest and most recognisable of our local rainforest vines. Its distinctive toothed leaves with obvious venation, and the coppery-brown colouration of new tendrils and leaf stems, are often visible...

Emma Rooksby

April 2025

Science & Nature

On the verge of a grassy revolution?

One of my quiet pleasures in life is walking or cycling around the Illawarra, and just checking out what plants are growing where. Local verges are a real revelation, as a wealth of local native species call them home. Local grasses in particular...

Emma Rooksby

April 2025

Science & Nature

Latest plant mystery: What’s going on with the Sassafras?

The beautiful Sassafras tree (Doryphora sassafras) is a distinctive and very common local rainforest tree of the escarpment. It is present in many areas along the slopes and benches, but particularly the steep upper slopes. These upper slopes run...

Emma Rooksby

April 2025

Science & Nature

Happy National Eucalypt Day to the Grey Ironbark and other outstanding habitat trees

Last Sunday 23rd of March was National Eucalypt Day. There are events being held throughout March, right around Australia, to celebrate this absolutely iconic Australian group of plants. There are over 800 species of Eucalyptus, most of them only...

Emma Rooksby

March 2025

Science & Nature

Native Tussock Grass: a biodiversity bonanza

Illawarra is a real biodiversity hotspot, with many thousands of native species calling this place home. What a privilege to live among them! We live in a local government area with over 2,000 native plant species, hundreds of native mammals, and...

Emma Rooksby

March 2025

Science & Nature

New program calls for Guardians of the Grassy Woodlands

Right across the Illawarra, in urban parks and reserves, bushland patches and even in gardens and on verges, endangered species and ecological communities live among us. Our urban and peri-urban spaces are habitat for the Koala, first recorded by...

Emma Rooksby

March 2025

Science & Nature

A majestic rainforest tree lurking in forests near you

This week’s entry goes back to the plants themselves, this time an unloved and unlucky vine that usually gets very bad press. The Silkpod Vine (Parsonsia straminea)

Emma Rooksby

March 2025