Drier El Nino conditions this spring may give South East Queensland beaches a chance to replenish after three years of wet weather damage, according to scientists recording the cycle with cutting-edge drone mapping techniques.

It is one of most pristine and protected places in the world, but new research has revealed the alarming extent of plastic pollution in the Galápagos archipelago and the harm it poses to the rare and endangered animals who live there.

A Sunshine Coast school will help taxonomists name a wasp species new to western science after its students caught the insect as part of a tri-state project to uncover more of Australia’s biodiversity, says UniSC entomologist Dr Andy Howe.