Amazing Eucalyptus Pauciflora

This short was part of an exhibit called “encounters with the real world” at the MSDx exhibition at the Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning. The audio visual exhibit as a whole foregrounded environmental advocacy work that I undertake outside of my research or professional work but which uses techniques developed in both.

The original video and post “Amazing Eucalyptus pauciflora”, was designed, together with a parallel social media post about the ‘Amazing Acacia Melanoxlyon’, to celebrate lower combustibility tree species indigenous to the Nillumbik area.

The short is focused on Eucalyptus pauciflora in the Mount Stirling area and especially on the ‘Summit Tree’ a lone snowgum situated at the summit of Mount Stirling, just below the peak. The video celebrates the species and especially the story of this tree, highlighting the species, but also context and place and the fact that a tree can be a significant and important entity in the landscape.

Eucalyptus pauciflora differs from many eucalypts in that it is low in Eucalyptol, a volatile (combustible) oil, which renders it less flammable. This makes it worthy of consideration for inclusion in a biodiversity enhancing street tree planting program. Eucalyptus pauciflora is indigenous in parts of Nillumbik, as well as at Mt Stirling (approximately 100 kilometres northeast) and across the Alpine region.

The original posts were made as background prior to sharing the ‘Biodiversity Strategies’ that I put forward for implementation locally. The celebration of, and information about, particular species via “short and seemingly ‘fluff’ tree posts”, was partly intended to offset assumptions (and concerns) that a biodiversity enhancing ‘rural tree planting scheme’ would necessarily be composed of better known Eucalypts, and bring elevated fire risk.

This work parallels my research philosophy in that it foregrounds contextual specificity. Place, materiality (here plant materials) and site specific response are critical elements. Also in parallel with my research the communication sets out to draw in the viewer with an empathetic and engaged interest in problems, technical approaches, and design opportunities, told not as formal findings, but as stories.

A version of this video was first published on Facebook in October 2024 https://www.facebook.com/groups/223516755046114/posts/1653863948678047/ . The original video was published in a vertical aspect ratio 9:16 for smartphone viewing. The video was remade in November 2024 for the exhibition using Premiere Pro in a 16:9 ratio.

This work also relates to the Figshare item(s) Biodiversity strategies

DOI: https://doi.org/10.26188/28232948.v4 / https://doi.org/10.26188/28233002.v1