From 26 - 30 May 2009, the Cooperative Research Centre for National Plant Biosecurity hosted an exhibition booth at Canberra's Amazing World of Science (AWOS). The AWOS coincided with the annual CRCA conference which gave CRCs the opportunity to promote their research to a wider audience including students, teachers, representatives from international embassies and the general public.

The AWOS attracted over 12,000 people which included 78 school groups; providing the CRCNPB with an excellent opportunity to highlight its commitment to educating the younger generation on plant biosecurity. Using the model village Biosecureville as a guide, children were asked to complete a biosecurity quiz with questions challenging them to think about plant pests, transmission of pathogens and identifying places where quarantine inspection points could be set-up to stop potential entry of exotic pests.

Teachers also had the opportunity to interact and learn more about biosecurity by completing a quiz to win a copy of the CRC's Big Book, Plant Pest Investigation. The teachers' quiz also allowed staff to initiate discussions regarding the school education program, Plant Pest Investigators, which aims to teach children about plant biosecurity and foster enthusiasm for science.

The exhibition booth and quizzes proved to be very popular among the students and teachers. Lesser grain borers gnawing through wheat displayed from microscope to a big screen caused a few shrieks from the crowd. While these are common pests, seeing the damaged grain up close gave visitors the opportunity to see the harm insects can cause to stored grain.

On the Wednesday evening, representatives from international embassies were invited to attend the exhibition as part of an International Collaboration event. Many of the attendees were ambassadors for their respective country. At this event the CRC was able to promote its research as well as its international collaborative networks; highlighting that collaboration plays an important role in effective biosecurity practices across the biosecurity continuum. Global Biosecurity 2010: safeguarding agriculture and the environment [1] was also promoted to the attendees.

Kate Scott, Communications Manager, Alejandra Cano, Administration Officer and Kirsty Bayliss, Education and Training Program Leader promote plant biosecurity to school children and teachers