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In the term break of the second semester 2020, I joined a volunteer science program called ‘scoop a poop’ involving the collaboration of researchers from Macquarie University and the University of Sydney. The program was one component of a citizen science project aimed to collect possum poop in order to examine their resistance to antibiotics. In the ACT region, they are cooperating with the Woodlands and Wetlands Trust to extend the research area to Mulligans flat and Jerrabomberra reserve. Associate Professor Michelle Power from Macquarie university identified the concerns hidden within our treatment towards possums and other animals which is the consequence of antibiotic resistance. Using excessive antibiotics can and will result in resistance and many interventions are needed to meet this challenge (Laxminarayan, 2013). As so researches have shown, antibiotic resistance is a complex problem that involves human activities at various level and the program is trying very hard to attract volunteers to address this. The program was conducted in a way for normal citizens (with or without ecological management experience) to step out and collect possum’s sample to make the monitoring work more effective and efficient.

Prior to this task, I know close to nothing when it comes to antibiotic resistance. It all comes from the decrease in the effectiveness of antibiotics in treating infections. The program provided with the collection kits and enough information for us to identify and collect the poop. The scholars also provided us with several scientific details of typical ringtail and brushtail possum and their conservation and management strategies within the mulligans flat reserve. The implementations are then elaborated by the rangers at mulligans flat with respect to the commonwealth regulations. They stressed that as a study found that human populations can influence animal microbiota, it is vital that human identification of antimicrobial natural can provide us with crucial information regards to the human usage of antibiotics on animals (Fulham, 2018).

It easier said than done when it comes to identifying possum poop from other animals. The first few hours in the field are a total failure as I seem to be a bit lost as I was surrounded by many animal poops. However, I did learn a lot about the volume of these resources and their relation to covers such as the littler cover, cryptogams, and deposited materials. I never recognise the rich amount of nutrients and the possible threat the antibiotics are doing to the whole ecosystem (also it is amazing to get a bit of fieldwork done with this pandemic). In short, the scoop a poop program is a voluntary work that has just kicked off in ACT, but the result from Sydney can be traced back to 2017. The samples are tested with PCR (polymerase chain reaction) to detect a piece of bacterial DNA known as the Class 1 integron (Power, 2013). The result (either positive or negative) is an indicator of antibiotic resistance. The possum can potentially spread resistance genes into wild wallabies and into new environments that form a feedback loop. It is not much effort but the positive impact we potential can bring is humongous.