The pygmy blue-tongue lizard guy
Nick Modra is known as the pygmy blue-tongue lizard guy.
And it’s not even his favourite lizard.
As Northern and Yorke Landscape Board’s Regional Field Ecologist, and formerly a Landscape Officer in the Rangelands district, Nick has spent considerable time working on pygmy blue-tongue lizard conservation.
It may not be his favourite, but he has a serious soft spot for this small reptile that’s now only found in the Northern and Yorke region.
Then again, people who know Nick will tell you he has a soft spot for just about every plant and animal.
Need help identifying a native plant or bird? Nick is often the first-person people turn to. Throughout his career, he has worked across community ecology, vertebrate pest research, threatened species surveys and regional ecology, building an impressive breadth of knowledge along the way.
And yet Nick will be the first to tell you there’s still plenty to learn.
“I still feel like I've barely scratched the surface of the natural world,” he said. “I'm certainly in the market for geologist and fungi mentors and insects have become a growing area of interest for me too.”
For Nick, one of the most rewarding parts of the job is turning that knowledge into something useful for the community.
“I see myself as a bit of a knowledge repository – pulling pieces of knowledge from experts, volunteers and landholders and making it available to everybody.
“I think when property owners know what’s on their land – the plants and animals that live there – it really enhances their feeling of custodianship. I love when I can peel a bit of the mystery back, point out something that might not have seemed significant, give it a name and explain what’s needed to keep it in the landscape.”
No two days are quite the same for a field ecologist. Alongside the obligatory data entry, Nick’s work can involve planning and running monitoring programs, visiting properties to help landholders prioritise restoration projects, and conducting surveys to assess the impacts of feral animals.
It's the time spent outdoors that he enjoys most.
“My favourite days are obviously getting out and about in the field. I've become a bit of a Rangelands specialist, so any chance I get to do fieldwork in the lower north of our region is great because I have heaps to learn. It's amazing how much the flora assemblages change with a thirty-minute drive.”
So, what is Nick’s favourite lizard?
As you might expect, it's not an easy question to answer.
There are the skinks in the Liopholis genus, like the desert skink (Liopholis inornata), because they're chunky, strong and full of attitude. But he also loves Ctenotus skinks because of their diversity and patterning.
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