Our beautiful campus is incredibly rich in species, so its the ideal location for a ‘Bio Blitz’. It offers vast greenspaces, a concentration of ecological specialists and close proximity to a city. This means expert knowledge, biodiversity, and plenty of local people to participate! One of them, Sicily Fiennes, originally a Londoner now studying a Masters in Biodiversity Management at the school, shares why she’s looking forward to getting her hands dirty. <\/p>\n
‘Growing up in London, it is easy to miss nature, though I mean the term loosely, but in the best possible way. What I love about nature is that it can be anything, let us take the example of the forget-me-not flower. My whole childhood I thought it was the most beautiful flower and I would always collect a few to put in a glass at home yet turns out it is considered a weed by most people. We need to embrace all of nature, because it is all we have, weeds and all.<\/p>\n
I went on my first \u2018bird walk\u2019 at university, when I was already 19 years old. I knew vaguely of the bird diversity in the UK and appreciated the slivers of birdsong that could be heard over traffic, but I never really saw <\/em>or heard <\/em>them. Fast forward to this bird walk and I saw my first woodpecker, right in the middle of Russell Square in the middle of London. I even saw a goldcrest, one of the UK\u2019s smallest birds. But I also still have a lot to learn, there are so many amazing species in the UK \u2013 for me, I am looking forward to learning how to survey and record more plant species. Maybe even get into some foraging\u2026<\/p>\n So come along to the BioBlitz<\/a>, you might be surprised what you find! Something like this upcoming event is your perfect opportunity to see some more of the natural world around us. I hope to see you there!’<\/p>\n The BioBlitz will be taking place on Saturday 29th<\/sup> May from 8am-9.30pm. Find out more information and sign up to one of our activities here<\/a>!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Sicily Fiennes is a Masters Research student in Biodiversity Management at SAC. Find out about our postgraduate programmes here<\/a> and here<\/a> for undergraduate.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"