#SciFri: May Project Update 2021
It’s that time of year again when I make my annual pilgrimage to Norfolk, in the attempt to catch as many grass snakes as I can. You’ll be glad to know that I have made it here nice and early…
#SciFri: Why we need to accept that extinction is forever
Recently, news broke that stunned the scientific community. Members of the Thylacine Awareness Group of Australia revealed that they had irrefutable proof of the existence of thylacines, an extinct marsupial wolf-like creature that was once native to most of Australasia….
#SciFri: The power of citizen science
Imagine you’re running a project to map the distribution of a species or observe a phenological event such as the spawning of frogs. How is one person (or a small team of people) going to be able to collect data…
#SciFri: Reflecting on 2020, the year everyone wants to forget
For many people, this year has been quite a trying and stressful time. I fully sympathise with this view given the delays and isolation caused by lockdowns, in the attempt to curb the spread of COVID-19. To me, it has…
#SciFri: What’s that lichen?
During a recent walk along the North Downs Way recently with my good friend Vanessa, we stumbled across some trees that were covered in lichen. Being the curious types that we are, we collected some twigs from these trees and…
#SciFri: Why are there so few herpetologists in the UK?
As a herpetologist working in the UK, it has always struck me just how few of us there are. This stretches through the realms of professionals such as ecologists or academics to students with a focus on amphibian or reptile…
#SciFri: The wonders of dissecting owl pellets
Did you know that many birds such as owls produce pellets? Pellets are formed of all of the indigestible material they’ve consumed such as bones, teeth, feathers and fur. This is then compacted in the gizzard and regurgitated as a…
#SciFri: Fossil Hunting at Beltinge/Reculver in North Kent
Following on from my popular post on fossil hunting at Walton-on-the-Naze, I’ve recently been fossil hunting on the North Kent coast, not far from Herne Bay. I’ve wanted to go for a couple of years now, ever since I stared…
#SciFri: October Project Update
It’s been a while since I posted a project update so I thought now was the perfect time given the grey and gloomy weather, as a way to help distract you from the terrible weather. Unfortunately due to the ongoing…
#SciFri: Do reptiles and amphibians hibernate?
We all know that mammals such as squirrels and hedgehogs hibernate for the winter and in the wider landscape of the Northern Hemisphere, other species such as bears are also another group of animals that often come to mind when…