Casey Kirchhoff's home was one of the thousands that were lost in Australia's horrific summer of bushfires, where more than one million hectares were burnt, more than twenty people died, and at least 1 billion animals perished.

For Casey, coming back to her place in Wingello - a few hours South of Sydney - was almost indescribable.

"Seeing it and knowing it's a place you loved...I can't find the word for it - it's shattering, really."

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Whatsapp Avani Dias and Casey Kirchhoff

An ecologist and PHD candidate at the University of New South Wales, Casey has felt the devastation especially deeply, as studying Australian flora is her life's work.

But while the bush around her home is burnt and blackened, Casey has managed to focus on looking forward - and finding solace in the bright green life already sprouting through the ash at her feet.

"Coming out and seeing every single blade of grass, it's like - oh my gosh, it's coming back.

"As an ecologist, I know what happens with bushfires, I know how it looks, but to actually see it recovering, it's really great."

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Whatsapp Bogrushes documented in Wingello

Casey wants to learn about how the biodiversity of bushfire-effected areas is recovering.

But with so much land destroyed across the country, she needs your help.

Enter... the Environment Recovery Project

If you want to continue to help with the bushfire recovery process - especially if you can't afford to donate money to causes - the Environment Recovery Project by Casey, UNSW and the Centre for Ecosystem Science might be up your alley.

It's a free, crowdsourced project that's encouraging Australians to go out to bushfire affected areas - if it's safe to do so - and document what they see.

"If people want to go out to see what's happening in the burnt areas, if it's safe to do so, if you see any regrowth on any of the plants, any seedlings, animals, that's what we want to know about," Casey said.

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Whatsapp Mushrooms in Wingello

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Whatsapp King fern in Wingello

You don't need fancy gear - just the camera on your phone.

"All you need to do is log in, upload a photo, and you can add as much detail as you like."

What to document in fire-affected areas Plants (native and weeds): Seedling or resprout

Animals (natives and ferals): Alive or dead, tracks and scats

Fungi and Lichen

Landscapes: Scorch height (how high the fires went) and the amount of leaves burnt in the canopy, shrubs, and ground cover.

So far the project - which officially launches tomorrow - has observations of fresh spider burrows, Eucalyptus sprouts, wombats, and brand new ferns.

Casey says understanding how the environment responds, adapts and bounces back after extreme fires will be crucial for scientists as summers are expected to worsen.

"We're going to be getting fires occurring more frequently and more intensely, which is predicted under climate change, ecologists are going to be focusing more and more on it.

"If we can just get lots of eyes on the ground we can look at the fire intensity and what the plants are doing."

If you want to take part in the Environment Recovery Project, head to its page on iNaturalist, right here.