Surveying plants in Victoria Park

Free Lecture Series: What do we know about the status of our wildlife?   

The Ecology and Conservation Studies Society at Birkbeck University of London is running another free lecture series in autumn 2015. Lectures will be held on six Friday evenings between 9 October and 13 November.

In Britain we have a long and proud tradition of monitoring the distribution and trend of birds, plants and
butterflies, using volunteers from natural history and conservation societies. Recently, modern technology has led to a burgeoning number of these "citizen science" schemes using a wide pool of contributors, on everything from the parasites of the chestnut leaf miner to plants indicative of good habitat, from swifts to stag beetles. Schemes can collect haphazardly or according to a fixed protocol. Some schemes have been so successful that they are used as government indicators, but others may not deliver on expectations, and taxonomic coverage is patchy. In this series our lecturers look at what makes for success.

These free public lectures are suitable for those who may be considering, or undertaking, university courses in ecology, biological conservation or related subjects. They will also interest environmental and ecological
practitioners, natural historians, wildlife organisations and anyone with an interest in natural history and wildlife.

All lectures 18:30 to 20:00 at Birkbeck, University of London, Lecture Theatre B36, downstairs at the Torrington Square entrance.
9 October: The good, the bad and the ugly in UK Biodiversity monitoring. Richard Gregory, Head of Species Monitoring and Research, RSPB.
16 October: Stories from London: the role of local records centres. Maria Longley and others, Greenspace Information for Greater London.
23 October: The State of Britain’s Moths. Richard Fox, Butterfly Conservation.
30 October: The Biological Records Centre: valuing wildlife observations in a changing world. Helen Roy, Centre for Ecology and Hydrology.
6 November: Citizen Science in Action at the Open Air Laboratories (OPAL). Dr David Slawson & Dr Poppy Lakeman Fraser, Opal, Imperial College London.
13 November: Monitoring hoverflies with digital photographs. Roger Morris, consultant.

The lectures are supported by the Department of Geography, Environment and Development Studies, Birkbeck University of London and would not be possible otherwise. They are organised and promoted by the Ecology and Conservation Studies Society.

A reading list will be available later. To receive this, please e-mail the Ecology and Conservation Studies Society, consult the Birkbeck website, or pick up a copy at one of the lectures.