BSc students work to clean up the Merri Creek

The Merri Creek is a vital artery of Melbourne’s waterways and hosts some of Australia’s most threatened ecosystems.

It snakes through residential and industrial areas creating an attractive public path for many. Unfortunately, walkers and cyclists will often find rubbish in the creek, wind-blown into the reeds, washed in with stormwater or purposefully dumped along its bank. The Merri Creek Management Committee is an organisation dedicated to the creek’s management and cleanup. Students from the Bachelor of Science have been working with the Committee throughout the semester, growing their industry placement skills and providing hands-on research assistance.

Two of these students are Aditi Nayak who is completing the Ecosystem Science major and Wei Heng Chan who studies Environmental Science. As part of their Integrated Landscape Analysis subject, they’ve been reviewing the causes of the Merri Creek’s litter problem and the possible long-term solutions. “While community members regularly organise clean-up activities, the problem continues to persist,” said Wei. Both Aditi and Wei found the field trips and work-integrated learning opportunities the highlight of the course. “The subject has helped us develop employability skills, particularly pertaining to communication and public speaking,” said Aditi.

The project produced some interesting results too. "Over the course of the project, we not only gained a greater understanding of how litter could travel huge distances through local drainage systems but also realized how difficult it could be to truly pinpoint where the litter is coming into the creek from. The Merri Creek runs through multiple different councils and neighbourhoods and our project aimed to reduce the litter problem at potential sources rather than relying solely on clean-up efforts post-high rainfall events."

The pilot study of surveys we conducted could be the first step towards reducing litter production at the local scale Aditi Nayak

Their investigative report will be presented to members of the local council, community stakeholders and the public. To find out more information about the project, come along to the Source Reduction Plan Workshop on Sunday 24 November in Alphington.

Aditi Nayak, Wei Heng chan, Louisa Gebbie, Mingyu Su and
Julia Cirilo (Waterwatch Coordinator at MCMC)