A Focus On Nature

A Focus On Nature, Nature Reserves

Wild Images of Scilly. By Ed Marshall

 

Born and raised in Birmingham, until moving to Tamworth Ed was always surrounded by a bit of a concrete jungle. This is one of the main reasons why he has always taken such an interest in the natural world. He studied a BSc (Hons) degree in Zoology at the University of Nottingham, which saw him travel to Portugal, Ireland, and (more exotically) to Bolivia. His love of watching wildlife is what led him to pick up a camera roughly 5 years ago and to start taking pictures of the various natural wonders that he experienced, and his scientific background allowed him to further understand the images that he captured. He went on to hone his knowledge and passion for wildlife photography by gaining a Distinction in the MSc course in Biological Photography & Imaging, also from the University of Nottingham.

 

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Books and Reviews

Nature Reading Roundup: Walking. By Chris Foster.

Chris is a birder who is slowly evolving into an amateur naturalist, one increasingly keen on finding, learning about and promoting more ‘obscure’ wildlife. Through his writing he tries to get across the sheer beauty of nature, but also wants to highlight just how much fun – for want of a better word – wildlife can be. He is employed by Reading University as a Teaching Associate in the School of Biological Sciences, focussing primarily on engaging students with species identification, biological recording and conservation philosophy. He is in the early stages of a PhD in invertebrate landscape ecology, through which he ultimately hopes to make a contribution to conserving the sorts of bird and insect rich landscapes he loves to spend time in.

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Species

Silver-Studs: My favourite butterfly of June. By Sophie-May Lewis.

Sophie May has had a passion for the natural world since early childhood. Now a writer and photographer of natural history and countryside subjects, living in a historic market town in the centre of the South Downs National Park, the countryside of West Sussex and surrounding counties provide much inspiration for Sophie May’s work. Sophie May is building a career in Conservation, currently working for the RSPB on a Heritage Lottery Funded Traineeship (ending September 2014), through which she is grateful to be able to share her passion for nature, experiencing wildlife and its conservation, with others. Photographing butterflies and flowers, gardens and animals, landscapes and wildlife, is something Sophie May particularly enjoys, whilst much of her writing is creative, descriptive and poetic, exploring the way words work and sound, and the power of imagery. To read more of Sophie’s writing visit her website (http://www.sophieco.co.uk), or you can follow her on Twitter (@SophiEcoWild).

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Issues in conservation

Glass. By Chris Foster.

Chris is a birder who is slowly evolving into an amateur naturalist, one increasingly keen on finding, learning about and promoting more ‘obscure’ wildlife. Through his writing he tries to get across the sheer beauty of nature, but also wants to highlight just how much fun – for want of a better word – wildlife can be. He is employed by Reading University as a Teaching Associate in the School of Biological Sciences, focussing primarily on engaging students with species identification, biological recording and conservation philosophy. He is in the early stages of a PhD in invertebrate landscape ecology, through which he ultimately hopes to make a contribution to conserving the sorts of bird and insect rich landscapes he loves to spend time in.

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A Focus On Nature

Inspiring Students with Citizen Science. By David Hunter.

After such an overwhelmingly positive start to University Birdwatch Challenge (3 months in we had 113 participants, 9 universities and 9,246 records), it was even more encouraging to hear that the project had inspired one student to take things a step further and set up an official Ornithological Society at the University of Reading. David Hunter explains a bit more about his ambitions and motivations….

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Issues in conservation

The unnatural balance. By Matt Williams.

Matt has been a member of the RSPB since the age of five and has never looked back. He remembers writing to Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth at the age of seven, shocked at the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest. His passion for the natural world has led him to work for a range of NGOs as both an employee and volunteer, as well as running his own projects. Professionally, Matt specialises in climate change policy, communications and youth engagement. He has worked and volunteered for the RSPB in a number of roles, including as a membership recruiter, an assistant warden and in the climate change policy team. He is a founding member and former Co-Director of the UK Youth Climate Coalition and attended a UN climate conference in 2011, and holds degrees from the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and a diploma from the Institute of Political Studies in Paris. During 2013-14 Matt is working in Borneo, Indonesia, as Communications Manager for the Orangutan Tropical Peatand Project.

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Issues in conservation, Species

Skies darken for the Skydancer. By Simon Phelps.

Simon is a conservationist, wildlife photographer and passionate naturalist. He currently works for the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust (views his own) and spends as much of his free time out on nature reserves around the country photographing any wildlife he can find. To follow more of his writing you can follow him on Twitter: @wildlifephelps

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A Focus On Nature

A Rekindled Love of Bird Watching. By Ed Marshall.

Born and raised in Birmingham, until moving to Tamworth, Ed was always surrounded by a bit of a concrete jungle. This is one of the main reasons why he has always taken such an interest in the natural world. He studied a BSc (Hons) degree in Zoology at the University of Nottingham, which saw him travel to Portugal, Ireland, and (more exotically) to Bolivia. His love of watching wildlife is what led him to pick up a camera roughly 5 years ago and start taking pictures of the various natural wonders that he experienced, and his scientific background allowed him to further understand the images that he captured. He went on to hone his knowledge and passion for wildlife photography by gaining a Distinction in the MSc course in Biological Photography & Imaging, also from the University of Nottingham. He currently produces blog posts for the RSPB, as well as producing work for “WatersideCare”, a branch of Keep Britain Tidy.

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Issues in conservation, Species

DeExtinction: Species Saviour or Zombie Nightmare? By Harry Martin.

Harry is a budding bird watcher, conservationist, naturalist and wildlife photographer.  Holidays to Scotland at an early age inspired and drove him towards his desire to work with wildlife and in conservation.  He has developed his photography over the years with a recent commendation in the mammal society photography awards he hopes to achieve more with his images. Now in his final year at the University of Manchester, studying Zoology, after having just returned from a year placement at Aigas Field Centre in the Scottish Highlands.  Any free time is spent getting out to local areas to bird and take photographs.

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