To mark World Environment Day, Griffith University has officially launched the unique GrowsatGriffith appfor anyone wanting to know more about the native plants of South East Queensland.
Originally developed for students in Griffith’s School of Environment, this is the first time a teaching app has also been made available to the broader community. And it’s free!
The idea for GrowsatGriffith was developed by Associate Professor CatherinePickering and PhD student Mark Ballantyne because they wanted to share their knowledge of local flora. The app was built in collaboration with Griffith’s INS Learning and Teaching Team (Educational Designer Gary Tischer, Application Developer Michael Speirs, and Graphic Designer Oleg Estrin).
GrowsatGriffith provides an interactive and easy-to-use flora database of 200 plants found on Griffith University campuses, and more broadly across South East Queensland,” Associate Professor Pickering said.
“It’s a text book you can carry in one hand and just as importantly, it’s a huge amount of fun.”
Mark Ballantyne agrees it’s very useful for anyone wanting to identify plants on-the-go.
“You can select plant characteristics such as flower colour or leaf shape and then specify if it’s a tree, shrub, herb or grass,” Mark said.
“Within seconds a concise list of possible matches is produced, drawing on the app’s collection of 500 high definition photos.”
And it’s not just the University that is excited about GrowsatGriffith. Students from St Hilda’s school on the Gold Coast are already avid fans of this hi-tech botanical information source.
During the official launchon World Environment Day, Griffith University Vice Chancellor Professor Ian O’Connor proudly thanked all those involved.
“For the team that’s worked on this, it’s wonderful,” Professor O’Connor said.
Pro Vice Chancellorof SEET, Professor Debra Henly is delighted there has beensucha rapidly growing interest in the app, far beyond the classroom.
“What we have found already is that there is considerable interest in the community because what grows at Griffith also grows around Griffith. So people are interested to see what grows in their parks and what grows in Toohey Forest and what grows in the reserve on Smith St,’ Professor Henly said.
“I think this appis something that will benefit the community wherever there is a Griffith campus.”
Plant lovers, bush walkers, gardeners and even just the mildly curious can download this app for free from theApp storeandGoogle play.