Wodonga associate professor James Van Dyke a Eureka Prize finalist

For him it all goes back to his childhood, when catching turtles was a passion on the farm that was his backyard.

Years later, he has turned that curiosity into rigorous academic study, of such repute that the now-associate professor at La Trobe University in Wodonga is up for what is considered one of Australia's most prestigious scientific awards.

Associate professor Van Dyke is one of 55 entries to have been shortlisted for 18 Australian Museum Eureka Prizes, in the category of citizen science, for his turtle conservation program.

This program aims, with collaborators across Australia, to create opportunities for the community to "actively learn, participate and contribute to freshwater turtle research and conservation".

One of those opportunities has been through the app TurtleSAT, where people can record their sightings anywhere in Australia.

The data is then used to help reduce turtle deaths.

Associate professor Van Dyke said turtles played a vitally important role in freshwater systems.

"They eat pretty much anything and, especially, they eat dead stuff," he said.

"If you have dead fish, if you have a kangaroo fall in the water, something like that, they are the clean-up crew to help keep the water clean.

"When you think about all the fish kills that we've been having, if we had healthy turtle populations then those probably wouldn't be happening as much.

"But the turtles would be the first crew there to help clear up the mess by eating all the dead fish."

Associate professor Van Dyke praised what he said was the substantial effort made by Wodonga Council to protect turtles at Sumsion Gardens.

"They've built platforms recently that double as kind of fish hotels underwater but then above water provide a place for turtles to bask," he said.

"And so we have contributed funds to have signs set up that basically teach people that these are the turtles that you might see, and if you do see any you can use the app TurtleSAT.

Associate professor Van Dyke said TurtleSAT had a new bulk image upload feature that allowed people, after logging in, to easily drag and drop their turtle photos, select a couple of options such as images of dead or live turtles and click "submit".

The project he is involved in is led by La Trobe, in collaboration with Western Sydney University and the University of New England - plus several partners across the nation, including the council and North East Water.

Associate professor Van Dyke said his early work was on snakes, and he had also focused on sharks and lizards.

"But people love turtles. And so in terms of getting support for projects to protect them, that's just been a really successful thing in Australia," he said.

The winners will be announced on August 23.

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