The current rate of urbanisation and climate change necessitates immediate action on research findings, not only to address impacts but also to engage and empower the community. During his Honours and early PhD research, Anthony Santoro found that urban populations of the southwestern snake-necked turtle (Chelodina oblonga) were in trouble. Road mortality and increased predation were reducing nesting female and hatchling survivorship and thereby recruitment. Surveys of 70 wetlands and 4000 turtles indicated urban turtle populations were 90% adult and 60% male. Juveniles were found in few wetlands. Alarmed by this, Anthony presented his findings to the local council and state government conservation department, which attracted media attention. While Anthony continued his original scientific investigation, he fed his research into the new collaboration. From the first alarm, action progressed in three ways: 1) initial steps sought to immediately address the primary stressors (roads and predators) with a suite of interventions; 2) new student research projects sought greater understanding of key elements; and 3) we began Turtle Trackers – a citizen science conservation program where members of the public are trained to observe and protect nesting females and nests. After perfecting ‘Turtle Trackers’ for 3 years, the program has now expanded to include the original partners together with a local council association, a wildlife hospital, another state government agency, five NRM groups, communities from 12 local government areas (including a regional area) and a national consortium. “Saving our Snake-necked Turtle” has a robust delivery from casual participation using the ‘TurtleSAT ’app, to a formal, rostered, program of Turtle Trackers each dedicated to a particular wetland, all backed by scientific research. We hope the success of this approach might inspire researchers, especially early career scientists, to take their science out to people.