LYME REGIS EARTH AND COASTAL SCIENCE FESTIVAL

‘Promoting Science To Young People’

the annual event we all look forward to ....

The Lyme Regis Fossil Festival is for the whole family, enthusing about science and earth sciences in particular. Come along, take part, handle specimens, view exhibits . There are lots of activities for hands-on science for all ages. For more information visit: http://www.fossilfestival.co.uk

Meet scientists from the Natural History Museum, British Antarctic Survey, Palaeontological Association, Plymouth University, Natural England, Jurassic Coast Trust, Dorset Geologists, Geological Society, Lyme Regis Museum, Charmouth Heritage Coast Centre, National Trust, Dorset Wildlife Trust, National Oceanography Centre, Dinosaur Isle and many more

2017 DATES:    

Thursday 27th April - Secondary Schools Science Day - Thomas Hardye School - bookings only

Friday 28th April - Primary Schools Day - Lyme Regis Festival Primary Schools day - bookings only

                                                                       [Schools will take priority on many of the activities until around 2.30pm]

Saturday 29th April - Fossil Festival - Lyme Regis Festival - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

Sunday 30th April   - Fossil Festival - Lyme Regis Festival - OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

We hope to see you there!

Lyme Regis Fossil Festival - 2016

This annual event is for the whole family where you can enjoy:

• hands-on science for all ages
• walks
• talks
• theatre
• music
• comedy                

Entrance to the Grand Marquee is FREE (though donations are encouraged!). Some talks and events in the theatre are priced - please see website for details.

I shall be representing the NHM at the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival this weekend. It is a great event for all the family, please pop along and introduce yourself. I shall be in the Natural History Museum marquee outside the theatre. I hope to see you there!

FInd out more here: http://fossilfestival.co.uk/

Jurassic Coast Dorset and East Devon World Heritage Site: http://jurassiccoast.org/events/event/fossil-festival-2016/

Lyme Regis Museum is worth a visit: http://lymeregismuseum.co.uk/

Lyme Regis has played a vital party in our understanding of fossils. The famous Mary Anning lived is from Lyme Regis, she was self-educated, working class and a wonderful role model to demonstrate how we can all contribute to science. In 1810-1811, her brother found the 1st complete Ichthyosaur. Her discoveries were some of the most significant geological finds of all time.

Ichthyosaurus communis (Conybeare) collected by Mary Anning from the Lower Lias, Lyme Regis, Dorset. (on display in the Reptile Gallery at The Natural History Museum, London).	Asteroceras from the Lower Jurassic of Dorset, England.

Hope to see you in Lyme Regis!

Best wishes

Fiona

This week we hear back from Kath Castillo, our Orchid Observers Project Officer, about what orchids you can search for in the field this month.

August is nearly here and with it the start of the holiday season, so if you are planning a walking holiday or a bit of wildlife photography in the UK, there are some stunning species on our list to look out for and photograph for Orchid Observers.

Flowering now and into late August, the Marsh Helleborine (Epipactis palustris) is a fairly large orchid with loose clusters of pink and white flowers with a white frilly lower petal. The species, which grows in wetland areas such as fens and damp dune slacks, can flower on a grand scale, with tens of thousands of plants creating a carpet of flowers. Although it may occur in profusion in some areas, the Marsh Helleborine is declining in England and Wales due to habitat loss.

A flower of the Marsh Helleborine. Photo credit: Fred Rumsey.

Marsh Helleborine photographed flowering in large numbers last summer at Berrow Dunes, north Somerset. Photo credit: Fred Rumsey.

If you are up in northern England and in north-east parts of Scotland and likely to be visiting and walking in woodland, particularly pine woods, then look out under the pine trees on the forest floor for small spikes of creamy white flowers which are very hairy! Take a look at the leaves; if the veins are distinctively net-shaped (rather than parallel as in most UK orchids) then you may well have found Creeping lady’s-tresses (Goodyera repens).

Please take a photograph and record the location and date and upload your data to the Orchid Observers website.

Creeping lady’s-tresses at Eden Valley, Cumbria. Photo credit: Mike Waller.

A similar looking species, but in another genus altogether, is Autumn lady’s-tresses (Spiranthes spiralis) which is found in southern England, most commonly by the coast This small orchid has tiny white flowers arranged in a single spiral around the stem resembling braided hair, hence the common name. An interesting fact is the leaves develop in autumn and photosynthesise throughout the winter but wither before flowering – this is an adaptation to hot dry climates. Germination to flowering takes 14 years. This is a Mediterranean species that only grows on calcareous grassland with very short turf. Look out for it in late August and into September on chalk downs, fixed dunes, cliff tops and even lawns and old grass tennis courts!

Autumn lady’s-tresses at Eggardon Hill in Dorset. Photo credit: Chris Raper.

The Orchid Observers team would once again like to thank all our participants who have been out photographing orchids and collecting records from all over the country; nearly 1600 records have been submitted so far!

Kath Castillo

Kath is a biologist and botanist working as the Orchid Observers project officer and along with the Zooniverse web team developed the Orchid Observers website. She now tries to get out into the field whenever she can to find and photograph wild orchids!

This week Dr. Della Hopkins tells us about how the Decoding Nature project takes school students out on field trips and involves them in the Museum's science research.

In June, a group of ‘scientists in the making’ from Pimlico Academy joined up with a small band of research scientists from the Museum as part of a long running project called Decoding Nature. Decoding Nature is a Museum-run venture which delivers residential science courses to school children aged 8-18.

The courses take place at The Old Malthouse School near Wareham in Dorset, and combine learning with original, ongoing scientific research. Over the years the project has evolved and included a wide range of scientists with varied areas of expertise. Each course is different, ensuring that the children are taking part in cutting edge research that will be used for publication.

Amazing lichen communities on Dorset trees - a winning photo from the photography competition. Image credit: Coco from Pimlico.

For this particular course our budding scientists from Pimlico Academy were set several tasks, to aid renowned Lichenologist Holger Thues with several important research questions. The week began with an introduction to lichens and a recap on classification and how to use keys, before launching into investigations into the species composition of spice lichens; bags of mixed lichen species sold as cooking ingredients in many Asian supermarkets.

Recording the lichens on coastal trees. Image Credit: Annabel Crookshank, The Old Malthouse.

Next we took to the fields to carry out an air quality survey (designed by the OPAL project), using nine target lichen species growing on tree branches to give an indication of pollution levels. Three of these lichens are very sensitive to pollution, three are ‘intermediate’ and the final three are nitrogen-tolerant. The children’s findings were of great interest, showing that the presence of sheep dramatically altered the lichen community, with the nitrogen sensitive species nowhere to be found. Less than a mile away, by the coast, these species were flourishing.

Comparing the lichen species on trees in grazed fields. Image credit: Annabel Crookshank, The Old Malthouse.

Once they had honed their lichen-identification skills we headed out to Dancing Ledge, a beautiful area on the coast where the cliffs meet the sea. The students carried out a series of transects to answer questions about the habitat preferences of the coastal lichens, such as whether the rocks were sea- or land-facing, vertical or horizontal, and how close to the sea they were. We made some surprising discoveries, and were able to make some collections to take back to the Natural History Museum.

Making a (permitted!) lichen collection at Dancing Ledge.

Finally we used DNA barcoding techniques on a number of European and British samples of the lichen Verrucaria pachyderma. This involved working in the laboratory to extract DNA, and amplify it to a level which could be taken to the museum for the sequences to be read. This was very important work, and great care was needed with the samples. Everyone managed the task superbly, and we were successful in extracting the DNA.

Ready and prepared for DNA extraction.

Once we left Dorset, and returned to the museum, the DNA samples were sequenced. Genetic analysis of the lichens collected from Europe show that the British collections may in fact represent an entirely separate species. The next step is to expand the collection range and analyse more genetic markers, but the results so far are already a big surprise and wonderfully exciting.

Holger Thues explaining the different habitat preferences of the lichens. Image credit: Annabel Crookshank, The Old Malthouse.

The week was full of games to encourage learning, especially with the more tricky subjects such as DNA barcoding. The children entered each challenge with enthusiasm, whether they were in the lab extracting DNA, or buzzing around the field as worker bees collecting their sand pollen. We also found time to learn about other techniques used by scientists in botany (plants) and entomology (invertebrates).

To find out more, visit our Decoding Nature webpage.

You can also find out how to participate in OPAL surveys here.

Della Hopkins

Dr Della Hopkins has worked at the NHM for 6 years, and has managed the Decoding Nature project for the past 5. She previously worked on seed conservation with the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew. She studied Environmental Biology at Royal Holloway University of London, followed by an MSc in Ecology (Bangor) and her PhD from London investigated heathland conservation and restoration.

Della runs the Decoding Nature project with Dr Robert Dyer (molecular laboratory assistant).

Posted on behalf of Ranee Prakash, Curator of Flowering Plants in the Plants Division, Department of Life Sciences.

Wadakam (Hello!),

We are happy to share our recent journey to the Nilgiris in Tamilnadu, southern India in March - April 2015.

Our team from the Plants Division, Department of Life Sciences includes: >

• Xavier Aubriot - Post-doctoral Research Assistant in tropical Asia spiny solanums phylogenetics and taxonomy
• Jacek Wajer- Curator, Flowering Plants
• Ranee Prakash - Curator, Flowering Plants

The aim of the visit was to consult the herbaria of Botanical Survey of India (BSI) at Coimbatore, and Pune and also to visit Blatter Herbarium, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. We looked at the Solanaceae collections.

Apart from visiting BSI’s regional offices, we also visited Madras Christian College (MCC), Presidency College, National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), The Eco Park and the Theosophical Society in Chennai.

Xavier also made a brief visit to the French Institute in Pondicherry. The aim of this visit was to investigate the botanical collections of the herbarium of the French Institute, as well as to liaise with the French and Indian researchers working on the Indian flora. They are known to be particularly well curated and informative for the region of Mumbai and Pondicherry, from where Solanum trilobatum L. is native.

The Botanical Survey of India (BSI)

The BSI was established in 1890, with the main aim of surveying the plant resources and identifying plant species of economic value within the countr. With headquarters in Kolkata, it has ten regional offices in various states of India. It comes under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India.

We visited regional offices in Coimbatore and Pune. Coimbatore office has important collections of R.Wight (b. 6 July 1796 – d. 26 May 1872) and other collectors of the Honorable East India Company (EIC).

We databased around 400 specimens from both the regional offices. This data will be repatriated back to India. During the visit, Xavier identified Solanum species and recurated the species. For example Solanum xanthocarpum Schrad. & H. Wendl. is now Solanum virginianum L.

A detailed list of synonyms, correct taxonomy and pictures of Solanceae species is available on the Solanaceae Source website.

Madras Christian College (MCC)

Madras Christian College has a beautiful campus spread over 360 acres area with a rich flora and fauna (see Fig. 1). Originally founded by Rev. John Anderson, a Missionary from the Church of Scotland, on April 3, 1837, the college recently celebrated its 178th anniversary. Anderson is known for introducing English medium education in Southern India. MCC is an autonomous college and is renowned for academic excellence and for social commitment.

Fig 1. Madras Christian College, Chennai.

We met the faculty staff members: Dr M. Baluswami (Head-Department of Botany), Dr D Narasimhan (Associate Professor), Leslie Lawrence (Assistant Professor) and Sheeba Irwin (Research Assistant). We also had a brief chat with undergraduates and post graduate students and listened to their views on career aspirations.

Presidency College

Established in 1840, Presidency College is one of the oldest Arts College in Chennai, India. Located opposite the Marina beach in Karmalai area in Chennai, the building has very beautiful architecture (see Fig. 2). The college has various streams viz. Arts, Science, Commerce and has facilities for research leading to Ph.D. degree.

Fig 2. Presidency College, Chennai Ravichandar84.

We looked at P.F. Fyson’s (1877–1947) botanical collections stored in the College’s herbarium (see Fig.3). Fyson was a noted botanist and educator who worked in Southern India. During the period of 1920-1925, he served as Inspector of Schools for Vishakapatnam and Ganjam districts (Andhra Pradesh). He later returned to the Presidency College and served as Principal from 1925-1932.

Fig 3. PF Fyson.

Fyson is famous for many books and illustrated volumes that he wrote from 1912-1932.In 1912, he wrote a textbook of Botany for college students.

He is renowned for the first illustrated volumes of the South Indian Hills, 'The Flora of the Nilgiri and Pulney Hill-tops' which was published in 1915. This book has 286 illustrated pages and 483 species. This book was followed with a book on plant species from the lower elevations and notes on the Shevaory Hills in 1921. In 1932, he published 'The Flora of the South Indian Hill Stations', which covered 877 species.  Besides these, he also wrote a book on Madras flowers - illustrated 100 plates, a monograph on the genus Eriocaulon and a Flora of the South Indian Hills.

In his honour, the Presidency College, Chennai has instituted 'The Fyson Prize' for work in the area of Natural Sciences. 

Theosophical Society at Adyar, Chennai

Founded in 1875 in New York, the International Headquarters moved to Adyar, Chennai in 1882. The main aim of this body is universal brotherhood and the members are united to learn the purpose of existence through, self-responsibility, study, reflection and loving service.

Located between the Adyar River and the coast, the society is spread in 100-hectare grounds and provide a green, peaceful, vehicle-free retreat from the city. One can wander through the native and introduced flora, including a 400 year old banyan tree. Some of the plants that we saw in the garden and will not forget include the Sandbox tree, also known as Dynamite tree (see Fig. 4).

Fig 4. Hura crepitans, commonly known as sandbox tree.

Botanically, this plant is known as Hura crepitans belonging to the Euphorbiaceae family and the Cannon Ball tree - botanically known as Couroupita guianensis belonging to Lecthidaceae family (see Fig. 5a, b).

Fig 5a. Fruits of Couroupita guianensis, commonly known as cannon ball tree.

Fig 5b. Flower of Couroupita guianensis commonly known as cannon ball tree.

The French Institute at Pondicherry

Inaugurated after the cessation of French Territories to India in 1955 (i.e. the 5 cities of Pondicherry, Karikal, Yanaon, Mahé and Chandannagar), the French Institute of Pondicherry is very active in the study of South Indian civilisation and culture. Since the 60s, it has also developed an important ecology department, specialised in collecting information on the evolution of the environment in South India. From this time, the researchers of the Institute have constituted a herbarium which counts today more than 24,000 specimens.

Xavier visited the herbarium, annotated and databased all the Solanacae specimens present in the collections (more than a 100). This trip to Pondicherry has been also an ideal occasion to exchange contacts with the French and Indian researchers working there on various aspect of the Indian flora (mostly forest ecology), and Xavier has presented his research project during a conference. During a short tour at the Pondicherry Botanical Garden with Soupramanien Aravajy, the most knowledgeable botanist of the IFP, we were happy to find, hidden in the bushes, the small (and terribly spiny!) Solanum trilobatum L. (see Fig. 10).

After three days of work in this quiet and beautiful “Petite France”, it was difficult to come back to busy Chennai…

Besides visiting the Institutes, we also visited some historic temples in Chennai, Coimbatore, Mahabalipuram (also known as Mamallapuram) and Madurai belonging to the Chola and Pallava dynasty (around 3rd to 6th century C.E.). We were amazed with the absolute beauty of architectural designs. It was sweltering hot in India with temperatures around 38-40 degrees centigrade but the food was delicious with so many varieties of Kathrik kai (brinjal) (see Figs. 6a & 6b), Valai palam (banana) and the lovely chutneys made from Takali (tomatoes) and puli (tamarind).  We had rice Arisi (rice) for lunch and dinner, lots of keerai (leafy vegetables) and tanni (water) to keep us hydrated!

Fig. 6a. Solanum torvum( sundaikkai) sold in the market.

Fig 6b. Brinjal varieties sold in the market.

As our journey came to an end, we would like to reflect on the memorable wander to the Nilgiris, the picturesque memories for years to linger including the highest Peak Point 'Doddabetta' in the Nilgiri Mountains at 2367 metres (8650 feet). This is where the Eastern and Western Ghats meet (see Fig. 7). The endless vibrant greenery of the tea estates (see Fig. 8) (wonder what it must be like when there were undisturbed forests) and the beautiful architectural buildings of the various temples and palaces.

Fig. 7. Doddabetta Peak (highest point 2637m, where the Eastern and Western Ghats meet).

Fig. 8. Tea plantation in the Nilgiris.

We would like to convey our warm Nandri (Thank you- in Tamil) and gratitude to all the staff at various Institutes. A special Nandri to Dr D.Narasimhan at MCC, Dr V Sampath Kumar, Dr G V S Murthy, Dr Beniamim, G. Gyanansekaharan and Kannamani at BSI for all the hospitality and help (see Fig. 9).

Fig. 9. Staff at BSI Coimbatore office.

Great way to collaborate and open the boundaries! Come on India.

Fig. 10. Solanum trilobatum L., growing along the path, Pondicherry Botanical Garden.

Crystal Palace Transition Kids and Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs swab the first ever dinosaur sculptures the world had ever seen, to help us identify The Microverse. Ainslie Beattie of Crystal Palace Transition Kids and Ellinor Michel of the Museum and a member of the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs report on the event:

Looming out across the lake in front of us are dinosaurs, 160 year old dinosaurs! They look huge, ominous and exciting! These were the first ever reconstructions of extinct animals, the first animals with the name 'dinosaur' and they launched the 'Dinomania' that has enthralled us ever since.

Never before had the wonders of the fossil record been brought to life for the public to marvel at. These were the first 'edu-tainment', built to inform and amaze, in Crystal Palace Park in 1854. They conveyed messages of deep time recorded in the geologic record, of other animals besides people dominating past landscapes, of beauty and struggle among unknown gigantic inhabitants of lost worlds.

The Crystal Palace Dinosaurs were built in 1854 to inform and amaze. © Stefan Ferreira

Most people just get to look at them from vantage points across a waterway, but not us! Transition Kids (part of Crystal Palace Transition Town) and Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs arranged special access to collect data for the Museum's 'The Microverse' project. The first outing of the newly formed Transition Kids group started with art and science discovery as we decorated our field journals (every good scientist keeps a field journal full of written and sketched observations, musings and potential discoveries) and observed the subjects from afar.

Transition Kids proudly presenting their field journals. © Stefan Ferreira

Then we started the trek over the bridge, through the bushes and onto the island. Wow, the dinosaurs are huge up close! Our CP Dinosaur ringmaster, Ellinor Michel, from Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs, explained to the kids about the conservation of the historic sculptures and gave an overview of the science behind The Microverse project.

The Microverse participants trekking over to dinosaurs island. © Stefan Ferreira

She introduced Dr Anne Jungblut from the Museum who developed 'The Microverse' project, which aims to uncover the diversity of microscopic life on iconic UK buildings. Anne explained what is interesting about the invisible life, called biofilms, on the surface of the dinosaurs. Our involvement in the project is trying to determine what types of organisms are living on the dinosaurs, by sampling and sequencing the DNA!

Our results will reveal whole communities of organisms, represented by many phyla of bacteria and archaea, living on each sculpture. Once we get the results back we will be able to investigate which variables affect these communities of organisms, such as substrate, compass direction and distance from vegetation. Then the Museum will compare our results with those from hundreds of other buildings throughout the UK, to look for broader patterns in microorganism ecology. We look forward to meeting again with the scientists to discuss what our results show.

Transition kids collecting samples from the surface of one of the dinosaurs. © Stefan Ferreira

We also took some time to explore the surface of the dinosaurs, describing the textures and patterns that had been sculpted to represent dinosaur skin. Even today, scientists are still discussing the likely skin surface of these great beasts and there is evidence to suggest that some dinos had feathers!

The children also got the opportunity to sit and contemplate the size of the dinos, to look underneath them and across the lake at the diversity of species on display. Not only did they get to see the great big creatures, but also a few living animals when terrapins popped up, dragonflies zoomed past and ducks paddled by.

Resident artist David Vallade created a set of drawings the kids could use as a visual aid for exploration. © David Vallade.

During the summer break we will take the kids who participated in the Dino DNA event to the Museum to explore the science behind 'The Microverse' a bit further, and meet more scientists researching our environment in other ways. Starting with this adventure in deep time and now, Transition Kids are planning many more adventures in Crystal Palace Park and beyond.

To find out more about Transition Kids, please email Ainslie

And to find out more about the Friends of Crystal Palace Dinosaurs visit: http://cpdinosaurs.org/

A big thank you to all of the Museum staff and local community supporters who contributed to the event.

The whole dinosaur swabbing team. © Stefan Ferreira

Jade Lauren

Citizen Science Project Manager Lucy Robinson introduces a Q&A with Dr. Anne Jungblut.

In an earlier blog post, a group of students from Bedford Girls’ School described their recent visit to the Museum. The girls had taken part in The Microverse, collecting samples of microorganisms from buildings and sending them to the Museum for DNA analysis, and were keen to meet the scientists involved to find out more. We arranged for them to meet the lead researcher on the project, Dr. Anne Jungblut, to ask her some questions about the project and her wider research. We thought you might like to hear her responses:

Q. What inspired you to set up this project?

A. Of all the life on Earth, only a relatively small proportion are the plants, animals and fungi that we can see – the vast majority are microscopic. My research takes me all over the world, where I collect samples of microorganisms and study them using DNA technologies to better understand these important organisms. I’ve done a lot of work in the Antarctic, but I thought to myself that it would be really cool to also look at the microorganisms in the UK, in particular on buildings. There’s been very little research into the microorganisms that live on buildings in towns and cities to see what role they are playing in urban ecosystems. So I contacted Lucy and Jade in the Museum’s citizen science team as this research would require lots of samples to be collected across the country and I thought citizen science – collaborating with members of the public – could be a good option. Together we developed The Microverse project.

Q. What are you looking for in the data – what kind of patterns?

A. Firstly, I’m looking for the overall diversity of microorganisms. They are such an understudied group that these data will give us a baseline understanding of microorganism diversity on buildings. I’m also looking for differences between building materials – we asked participants to sample three different building materials so we will have a lot of different materials to compare.

We also asked you to record a number of different variables that might affect diversity for example the distance to the nearest road and the nearest vegetation. These variables show us possible pollution levels, or semi-natural habitats that microorganism may have colonised the wall from. I’m interested to see what influence the proximity to roads and vegetation/soil has on the microbial diversity.

I’m also keen to see whether unique locations have different communities of microorganisms. Some sample sites are quite unusual e.g. on land contaminated by heavy metals, and on a pier over the sea. Will these buildings have very different communities of microorganisms to the other samples?

This research will also allow us to formulate more detailed hypotheses and refine our research questions. We are also inviting participants to suggest new hypotheses and future directions for the research. Ideas can be emailed to microverse@nhm.ac.uk.

Arachnula impatiens, a microorganism found on walls, is a predatory protozoan

Q. How will the Museum judge how accurate the data are?

A. The schools and community groups taking part in The Microverse are carrying out exactly the same method to collect samples as a professional Research Assistant would have done. This means that samples need to be collected under sterile conditions, following a strict protocol.

When we were developing the project, we chose A-level students (or equivalent) as the main audience as they’re committed to science, and we felt they would be more likely to carry out the survey correctly and understand the importance of sterile working compared to other potential audiences we considered e.g. primary school students. Collecting samples in the right way is the first step to ensuring data accuracy.

Once we receive the samples, there are a number of ways we can check the accuracy of the data. After the PCR step, gel electrophoresis checks whether enough genetic material is present in the sample. The sequencing process also removes low quality sequences (ones that are too short in length) which will not give reliable results. The great thing about using DNA technologies for identification is that it’s very accurate and doesn’t rely upon human ability to make a correct identification.

Participants record details about their building surface, but we also ask them to send us photographs, so we can double check if we are unsure about the accuracy of a piece of information, or if it’s an unusual building surface that we need to be able to see to properly interpret the results.

Finally, when we sequence the data, the output shows us how many mitochondria sequences were generated which indicates how much animal DNA there was in the sample. If a sample had been contaminated e.g. by someone’s hands touching the swab, it would show up as a very high number of mitochondria and we would be able to exclude that sample from our analyses. Luckily this hasn’t yet happened.

Students from Trinity Catholic School collecting samples for The Microverse project

Q. Have you seen any microbes in The Microverse samples that you haven’t seen before?

A. Not yet. Samples are still coming in and are being sequenced so we only have very early results from a few sample sites. I will know more when all the samples have been sequenced and analysed. The sequencing we are doing is not always able to identify a microorganism to species level, it may be identified to a Genus or Family. Where they are identified to species level, it takes time to work through the data and explore further any sequences that look particularly interesting. We are keeping The Microverse samples frozen in our Molecular Collections Facility so that we, and other researchers, can go back to them in years to come to conduct further research.

Kevin Hopkins, in our film The Microverse in the Lab, placing specimens in the Molecular Collections Facility

Q. What are the long-term impacts of your research?

A. I work in the polar regions where environmental change is happening at a very fast pace. The deep ice sheets in this area also hold a record of microbial life going back hundreds of years. Understanding the impacts of climate change on all life, not just microorganisms, is an extremely important area of research at the moment. Polar regions are very delicate habitats that have been changed by the introduction of non-native species e.g. reindeer in South Georgia which have had a massive impact on soil quality there. Understanding the microbial life within healthy soils can help us to restore these damaged habitats.

In the UK, microorganisms are largely beneficial, through cycling nutrients such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen and sulphur. But they may also be affecting the colour, moisture levels and other characteristics of buildings – understanding these potentially negative impacts may help the conservation of historic buildings and monuments.

In a much longer-term view, it is likely that new active chemicals and medicinal drugs will be derived from microorganisms, so research into microbial diversity facilitates this.

Dr. Anne Jungblut collecting samples in Antarctica

Q. You described The Microverse as ‘citizen science’ – what do you mean by that?

A. Citizen science is the involvement of volunteers in scientific projects that contribute to expanding our knowledge of the natural world, through the systematic collection, analysis or interpretation of environmental observations. Many of the big research questions of our time require large datasets to be collected over large geographic areas. It just isn’t possible for professional scientists to travel the country gathering samples or observations, so we collaborate with members of the public who volunteer their time, effort and expertise.

The Museum has a range of different citizen science projects where you can help our researchers to better understand the natural world. We have a project photographing orchids for climate change research, one recording seaweed distributions around the UK coast to monitor the spread of invasive species, and online projects where you can copy information from handwritten labels on museum specimens to make these data available to our researchers and curators. If you want to see how you can get involved, have a look at the Take Part section of the Museum’s website.

Professional and Citizen Scientists collecting data at Looe Bioblitz, 2013

Lucy Robinson

Lucy Robinson is Citizen Science Programme Manager in the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity. She has been working at the Museum in the field of citizen science for 7 years, initially on the Big Lottery Funded OPAL project and has worked on projects studying earthworms, lichens, seaweeds, urban invertebrates, microorganisms and many other areas of biodiversity.  Lucy has a BSc in Zoology from the University of Bristol and a MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation from the University of Leeds.

This week we get an update on the Orchid Observers project, from Project Officer Kath Castillo.

It’s been a busy time for Orchid Observers! The project got off to a great start when the website went live on the Zooniverse platform on 23 April; the very first of the season’s field records was uploaded on day one!

The Orchid Observers team, from left to right: Jade Lauren Cawthray, Jim O’Donnell (Zooniverse web developer) Lucy Robinson, Mark Spencer, John Tweddle, Kath Castillo, Chris Raper and Fred Rumsey

At the time of writing this blog we now have 567 registered users on the website who have enthusiastically completed 11,044 classifications, by verifying and transcribing data for our historical specimens and identifying species and flowering stages for around 700 photographic records already submitted by participants. The field records collected span the country, from Cornwall to Perth in Scotland, and from Pembrokeshire across to Norfolk. So far, for early-purple orchid (Orchis mascula) and green-winged orchid (Anacamptis morio) approximately 9% of the records are from new/unknown sites (as measured by 2 km square/tetrad); this is valuable information, particularly for green-winged orchid which is considered at risk of extinction in the UK.

A herbarium sheet of green-winged orchid (Anacamptis morio); one of around 10,000 historical specimens available online for data verification or transcription

Whilst we have not been able to fully compare the Orchid Observers phenology data with our museum records (as yet, the relevant, verified, 2015 UK weather data has not been released) we have already been able to see that the median date of this year’s flowering of two species (early-purple and green-winged) is at least 10 days earlier than the museum data (which mainly covers 1830 to 1970). These are early figures only, and the full data set will be analysed later this year.

We are immensely grateful for the time and good will of all our participants - without this effort we would not have been able to collect this data. And we’ve still got the rest of the summer to collect more data for all our 29 species in the survey!

The Orchid Observers team had a very busy in May, showcasing the project to the public at the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival, in Dorset and on Fascination of Plants Day and at Big Nature Day at the Natural History Museum.

Orchid Observers at Big Nature Day

Some of us in the team have also managed to get out to various sites to record and photograph orchids ourselves. Here’s a snapshot of our recent activities:

Visit to Stonebarrow Hill, Dorset, 1 May

After a busy day on the stand at the Lyme Regis Fossil Festival, Kath, Mike and Chris drove up to the National Trust’s reserve at Stonebarrow Hill to look for orchids and found two beautiful ancient hay meadows of flowering green-winged orchids (Anacamptis morio), including the occasional white variety in a sea of purples.

Kath photographing green-winged orchids (Anacamptis morio) at Stonebarrow Hill, near Lyme

Green-winged orchids (Anacamptis morio) at Stonebarrow Hill

BBC News report at Darland Banks, Kent, 19 May

Next up, Mark and Kath travelled down to Darland Banks, in Kent, to film a piece for BBC South East News, with reporter Charlie Rose. The south-facing chalk grassland slopes were abundant with the man orchid (Orchis anthropophora). You can see the film piece here.

Orchid Observers in the News: The man orchid (Orchis anthropophora) at Darland Banks

Visit to Box Hill in Surrey, 29 May

At the end of May, and despite a weather warning to expect heavy rain later in the day, a group of us left Victoria station in the morning sun and headed down to Box Hill to search for and photograph orchids. Box Hill forms part of the North Downs and is a well-known site to spot many of our wild orchids – there are around 17 species here. We were able to find and photograph 5 of our 29 target species: common spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii), common twayblade (Neottia ovata), bird’s-nest orchid (Neottia nidus-avis), white helleborine (Cephalanthera damasonium) and fly orchid (Ophrys insectifera), by the time the skies darkened. Some species, such as the bird's-nest and fly, are hard to find at the best of times, and were particularly difficult to photograph in a thunderstorm!

Lucy, Jade and Mike collecting photographic records for common spotted-orchid (Dactylorhiza fuchsii)

The beautiful bird's-nest orchid, (Neottia nidus-avis) in woodland

Drenched but happy: orchid observers Jade, Sally and Lucy at Box Hill

We’ve also been busy filming a piece which has just launched on the Museum’s citizen science Orchid Observers webpage. Kath organised with the Museum’s Broadcast Unit team to film a short piece to explain the research behind the project. So, mid-May saw Kath, together with Emma Davis and Hannah Wise, setting off early one morning with two carloads of film equipment, a group of Museum volunteers and Mark Spencer. The team went to Oxfordshire, to a couple of the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust’s finest nature reserves. We are very grateful to BBOWT’s Giles Alder and Laura Parker for hosting us.

Find out about why the Orchid Observers research is so important by watching our film here.

Filming for Orchid Observers in Oxfordshire

Kath Castillo

Kath is a biologist and botanist working as the Orchid Observers project officer and along with the Zooniverse web team developed the Orchid Observers website. She now tries to get out into the field whenever she can to find and photograph wild orchids!