Life sciences news

Our trainees on the Identification Trainers for the Future project have been extremely busy since our last blog post, here's Mike Waller with an update on what they have been getting up to!

The trainees puzzle over their latest capture (L-R: Sally, Anthony, Mike and Katy)

Our timetables, until now a collage of various colours, have become a very busy reality over the last two months. We got our teeth into another batch of long-anticipated ID workshops - Flowering Plants, Beetles, Flies and Earthworms. I think I speak for everyone when I say the skills and knowledge we've been passed by some of the leading scientific experts in the Museum have been rich, extensive and unique. Developing techniques to hoard as much of this golden information as possible have become paramount.

I've already gathered a thick stack of mixed ID keys, notes, powerpoint handouts and even the odd specimen - usually midway through the processing to go into my personal collection. Sally has taken her learning consolidation to a new level and is producing an incredible assemblage of annotated line drawings and intricate watercolours in her note book. She'll be blogging about that separately, but we're all a little jealous!

An extract from Sallys notebook

The first of these workshops was a one-day instalment of flowering plants out in the wilds of East London with Mark Spencer. We met promptly for 9.00 at Mile End tube station before heading out in the company of other trainees from a similar scheme called Wild Talent being run by the London Wildlife Trust (also funded by the HLF's Skills for the Future programme), and people who narrowly missed out on getting the traineeship during the first round. Indeed, several places have been made available on all workshops for the other 20 trainee applicants as an opportunity to maximise the skills-base across the board. It was great to see them again!

Mark Spencer highlighting some of the finer points of plant identification

After a scorching day keying out Fabacae and crucifers, dodging cyclists and discussing the horror of path-side 'tidying', we finished in Mark's local pub for a well-earned pint. As always, Mark's casual ability to blend good science, humour and memorable anecdotes always makes for a superb time. We all very much look forward to our next sessions with him in July.

Next up was our very first invertebrate workshop, and what better to start with than beetles - the group within which both Katy and Anthony find their true passion. This workshop was a solid four-day stretch that began with Roger Booth taking us through the depths of beetle anatomy followed by some family keying. Max Barclay provided a two-part lecture on world beetle families that, for me, gave a fascinating insight into the truly spectacular speciation and morphological diversity of the group acoss the planet.

As our confidence grew, we began to use specific familiy keys to make accurate species identifications of some of the more challenging groups such as Elateridae or the 'click' beetles. Michael Geiser and Roger offered invaluable help during this process as their oceans of knowledge were repeatedly called upon.

A small selection of beetles for identification

Just as we thought we were getting to understand insects, BOOM, in swept the seemingly impenetrable order of flies - a group with unfathomable diversity! Luckily we were in very good hands as we were led through the array of sub-orders by Erica McAlister, Duncan Sivell, Zoe Adams, Daniel Whitemore and the AMC's very own Chris Raper.

In similar style to the beetles, we used familiy keys to start with then slowly graduated to species identifications where possible. This workshop however came with a difference and on the second day, we all met at Wimbledon Common for a day out collecting.

With nets, pooters and pots at the ready, we were unleased on the varied mix of heathland, pastures and oak woodlands to capture what we could. The weather couldn't have been better and gave us a golden opportunity to use collecting techniques in the field. Once back in the Museum we were then able to pin and mount our specimens for our personal collections.

Left: Out on Wimbledon Common with the Diptera team. Right: Chloe back in the lab working on her diptera slide preparation

Our most recent workshop went subterranean with Emma Sherlock as we dug up seemingly half of the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trusts London Wetland Centre in the pursuit of earthworms. Using our trusty spades, and encouraged with the possibility of encountering a rare species, we sampled different habitats around the reserve to gain a good range of species which we then took back to the lab for identification the following day. Emma's unbridled passion for earthworms is infections and we all developed a new-found interest to take forward.

If that wasn't enough, we all packed our walking boots and set out for our placements with the Field Studies Council where we were based at various FSC Centres scattered up and down the country.

During May, I made my way north to Malham Tarn, whilst Chloe took heading north to the extreme with a week at Kindrogan and Milport on the edge of the Cairngorms National Park. Meanwhile, Anthony settled at Flatford Mill in Suffolk. Sally followed the South Wales coast to Dale Fort and Katy battled her way through the winding roads of North Wales to Rhyd-y-Creau in the mists of Snowdonia.

The focus of each of our placements was 2-fold: to observe the identification courses each centre was running and to assist with the outdoor teaching for which the FSC is renowned. I got to observe a beginners course called 'Spring Wildflowers of the Dales' which, as you'd expect, concentrated on the botanical.

It was led by local botanist Judith Allinson who taught a mixture of plant structure and lineage with a good dose of field visits to observe some of the specialist plants of the stunning limestone pastures, pavements and hay meadows. Having not been to the Dales proper before, I was continually stunned by this landscape of dramatic limestone cliffs and thick green meadows chequered by moss-drenched dry stone walls where the only sounds were the melancholy warbles of distant curlews. Highlights for me were the rafts of early purple orchids, adder's-tongue ferns and a hungry peregrine attempting to snatch Lapwing chicks on the tarn shore

Malham Tarn FSC Centre

The second part of my stay saw a sudden shift from pupil to teacher as various school groups, ranging from 8-14 year olds, visited for day trips and longer stays. This meant hanging out with the tireless field teachers who work extremely long hours to meet the educational needs of over-excited children!

It was a real privilege to see the field teacher's skills in action, but equally how challenging their roles can be. Trying to deliver a range of syllabus-based content that is relevant and exciting to different age groups, whilst trying to avoid the hazards of controlling a large group of children in an unpredicatable environment is very hard indeed. These observations were echoed by the other trainees who also gained immesurably from their experiences.

To round off our teaching and learning, Sally, Anthony and I also got stuck into some more people engagement at Big Nature Day here at the Museum. This is a coming together of over 50 different specialist wildlife organisations from across the UK. These included the more familiar groups such as the BSBI and iSpot, but it also provided an opportunity for some of the lesser-known societies such as the Conchological Society of Great Britain and Ireland and the British Pteridological Society to get their name out there.

Like Lyme Regis, this was a wonderful opportunity to showcase the work of the Angela Marmont Centre while also browsing and networking with some fascinating wildlife groups. As trainees, we ran our own table providing microscopes to observe lichens and several drawers filled with UK insects and bee mimics. I also spent some of my time at the Orchid Observers stand where I helped answer questions about the project alongside Kath Castillo, Fred Rumsey and Mark Spencer.

Mike, Sally and Anthony at Big Nature Day

All in all, an inspiring day, and an inspiring, and hectic couple of months! As the traineeship progresses, we're all looking forward to our next few workshops, which include Freshwater Invertebrates, Lepidoptera and Hymenoptera, as well as our short field trip down to the Isle of Purbeck before we all set sail in September for our three month curation placements at various departments around the Museum. Make sure you stay tuned for the next instalment of the Identification Trainees saga!

Your blog author, Mike Waller

Thanks Mike! Don't forget you can find out more about the Identification Trainers for the Future project at www.nhm.ac.uk/idtrainers, including how and when to apply for next years traineeship positions.

This month it is the turn of Katy Potts to give us an update on the progress of the trainees on the Identification Trainers for the Future project. Since Anthony's review of their first month with us the trainees have progressed onto Phase 2 of their programme, where their species identification training really starts in earnest and we've certainly been keeping them busy!

Trainees puzzling over an identification (l-r: Sally Hyslop, Anthony Roach, Mike Waller & Katy Potts)

The past two months have been both exciting and enlightening in educating us about the world of biological recording and species identification. It was while I was at Plymouth University that I first discovered species identification in an invertebrate taxonomy module with the ever inspiring entomologist Peter Smithers. It was under Peter's guidance and teaching that I fell in love with the six legged insects that run our world. Moreover, it was the passion for taxonomy from Peter that inspired me to delve into this field of biology.

The past two months have been fantastic. We are currently in Phase 2 of our programme where the core identification workshops, Field Studies Council placements and project work are taking place.

We have been welcomed into the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity (AMC) in the warmest way possible. After we settled in we were each given a role in one of five citizen science projects: The Microverse (me), Orchid Observers (Mike Waller), The Urban Tree Survey (Chloe Rose), The Big Seaweed Search (Anthony Roach) and The Bluebell Survey (Sally Hyslop). You might have seen posts from some of us on about our projects on the Citizen Science blog.

My role was to work on the Microverse project, which looks at discovering what species of micro-organisms live on buildings in the UK and what environmental factors affect their diversity. In this project, schools are asked to swab buildings made of different materials. They then send the DNA to us at the Museum for analysis. My role in this project is to carry out the DNA extraction in the microbiology labs and then help collate the results to send back out to the schools. Whilst working on this project, I have gained invaluable experience in current methodologies used for DNA extraction, something I was keen to learn but never anticipated doing through the traineeship!

My personal highlight of the traineeship is the identification workshops, which began in April with a two day Bryophyte ID course with Dr Fred Rumsey. During this course we looked at the anatomy of bryophytes, learning about their distributions and status as a group in the UK. We used microscopy to become familiar with a wide selection of species, focusing on the features that define their identification. There was also a field trip organised to Burnham Beeches where we observed a range of bryophytes in the field, from sphagnum mosses to the rare Zygodon forseri (knothole moss).

Sally & Katy hunting for bryophytes at Burnham Beeches

The second identification workshop was on Lichens with Lichenologist Holger Thues. To begin this course we explored the biology of lichens, their anatomy and distributions in the UK. We then went on a field trip to Hampstead Heath to look at a range of lichens that are present in this area, some of which are important indicators of pollution levels.

Personally, I found this an eye opening experience as I come from a part of Devon that is not far from Dartmoor, where I have spent many days walking along the River Dart. Along the riverside and some of the woodlands (such as Whistmans Wood) there is an abundance of lichen species, many growing to be large specimens due to the quality of the habitat. Seeing the effect that pollution has on the growth forms of the same species of lichen in London was very interesting.

When back in the museum, we spent some time in the cryptogrammic herbarium where we used a range of keys to begin learning lichen taxonomy and microscopy for identification. This included using chemical tests and cross-section microscopy to aid species identifications.

Chloe and Katy looking for lichens

Mike and Chloe back in the lab working on their lichen identification

As the weather begins to warm and the field season begins, many different wildlife groups are emerging and buzzing around. This ignited the desire in all of us to learn field survey techniques. As part of our environmental consulancy module we looked at methods for surveying different groups of wildlife. We were lucky enough to have the chance to survey newts in the Wildlife Garden here at the Museum. Steph West (the Project Manager for the ID Trainers project who has previously worked as an ecological consultant) supervised us while we undertook dusk and dawn newt surveys where we learnt key methods for newt trapping and releases as well has how to identifiy the different species.

Collecting our newt bottle traps in the Wildlife Garden.

During the sunnier days in London when we have some free time we are able to retreat into the Wildlife Garden to observe and collect insects. The garden is very diverse with a wide range of UK habitats that support a number of different wildlife groups. This valuable resource allows us to collect specimens and gain experience in identifying them. We are then able to incorporate them into our own collections which we can use as an identification reference. When out in the field we are also encouraged to collect specimens to support our work in identification. I have recently been working on identifying a wood ant I collected whilst out on a field trip:

Formica sp. ant I have been identifying

There are many more workshops and events to look forward to over the next month: Coleoptera, Flowering Plants, Dipetera and Earthworms are all coming up. For the last part of May however we are all on placements with the Field Studies Council for one week. I will be heading to the FSC centre in Rhyd-y-creuau in Snowdonia at the end of May assisting on courses on tree identification, arctic alpine flowers and a school Geography field trip.

Thank you Katy! Next month we'll be getting an update from Mike Waller on how those placements have gone, as well as some of the workshops and events that the trainees have been working on.

Our trainees on the Identification Trainers for the Future project have now finished Phase 1 of their programme and are busy working on Phase 2. During Phase 1 they had the opportunity for a fantastic introduction to the work and collections of the Museum as well as an introduction to biological recording and collections principles.

In Phase 2 they will be focussing more on their identification skills through a series of workshops as well as getting involved in the work of the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity. In this blog post Anthony gives an overview of their experiences in Phase 1 as well as looking forward to some of the work he will be doing in Phase 2.

Prior to starting on the ID Trainers for the Future programme, I have already been lucky enough to work at the Museum as a Science Educator for over 4 years and, through my new role as a trainee in the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity, I have been given the opportunity to develop new skills, gain experience of practical field work and wildlife recording. Most of all, I have glimpsed the wonderful - exploring the Museum's scientifically, historically and culturally significant collections behind the scenes.

ID Trainees and colleagues from the AMC discovering the Hans Sloane Herbarium

I couldn't have asked for a better welcome in the AMC, and the programme for the first phase has been a thoroughly engaging mix of professional development and collections-based training. Besides learning the craft of pinning and identifying insects, I have recieved training on organising field work, field work first aid and how to handle and use biological data with expertise from the National Biodiversity Network.

Online recording systems such as iSpot and iRecord encourage the public to share and record their wildlife sightings and, through a practical session with Martin Harvey from the Open University, I created a working identification key to Damselflies, one of my favourite insect groups. You can use the identification keys on iSpot to identify anything from butterflies to lichens, so go on and have a go yourself at www.ispotnature.org.

With such lovely Spring weather recently we've been let loose to collect and record wildlfie from the Museum's own Wildlife Garden which is currently buzzing with insects and the melodies of British songbirds. Late night newt surveying in the Garden was a real highlight so far. The Garden is a haven for thousands of British plants and animals and demonstrates wildlife conservation in the inner city. Over 2,000 species have been identified in the Garden since it opened in 1995.

Katy Potts, an ID Trainee, surveying for newts in the Wildlife Garden

The AMC works hard to encourage people to become 'citizen scientists' to explore, identify and record the wildlife they see, and this plays a key role in the monitoring of and recording of UK biodiversity. This helps researchers see how species are adapting with climate change and human activity. There are several brilliant Citizen Science projects that you yourself can get involved with, the most recent from the Museum being The Microverse and Orchid Observers. If you want to find out more and see new projects when they come on stream, keep an eye on the Take Part section of the website.

Part of my traineeship will involve championing a Citizen Science project. Growing up near the sea in Devon I have a passion for exploring marine life so I was delighted to find out that I'll be working as part of a team to enhance the Museum's Big Seaweed Search. The UK's coast is rich in seaweeds because of its geographical position and warming by the gulf stream, which means it is in a perfect 'golidlocks' zone.

An astounding 650 seaweed species can be found off the UK coastline and according to Professor Juliet Brodie, an expert on seaweeds at the Museum, seaweed coverage is so great that they are as abundant as the entire broadleaf forests combined. Seaweeds - like plants on land - photosynthesise; turning the sun's energy into food, removing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. Seaweeds therefore play a vital role in the functioning of the marine environment.

The Big Seaweed Search was launched in 2009 and we aim to inform scientific research by allowing the public to record and identify seaweeds that they find. By mapping the national distribution of 12 seaweed species, we hope to see changes over time, perhaps in response to climate change, or the spread of non-native species. With the weather and tides at this time of year it's perfect for exploring rock pools, so download our survey and join our Big Seaweed Search!

Anthony inspiring others about seaweeds at this year's Lyme Regis Fossil Festival, which took place on the first weekend of May

In our second to last post in our series introducing our trainees on the Identification Trainers for the Future project, we meet Anthony Roach. Although Anthony comes from a background in archaeology, he is a very keen amateur naturalist and science communicator, having already worked as a weekend science educator for the Museum.

My name is Anthony Roach and I am an enthusiastic and energetic amateur naturalist with a strong passion for inspiring people about the natural world. I was fascinated by material culture and prehistory and graduated as an archaeologist at the Univeristy of Reading in July 2003.

ID Trainer for the Future Anthony Roach, whose background is in archaeology and science communication.

I have spent the last 9 years in the handling, documentation, interpretation and advocacy of natural science collections (entomology, zoology, geology, archaeology and palaeontology) and inspiring museum audiences by delivering educational workshops and object-handling sessions at Plymouth City Museum and Exeter's Royal Albert Memorial Museum, affectionately known as RAMM.

RAMM was awarded 'Museum of the Year 2012' after a major 4 year re-development and between 2007 and 2010 I was given the opportunity to handle, pack and move its complete natural science collections, assist in delivering natural history outreach sessions, wildlife festivals and events and contributed to a touring exhibition called 'Micro-Sensation' about the beautiful and bizarre microscopic world.

My career working with natural science collections has shown that I have a strong interest in the natural world, but in my spare time I spend much of my time observing, photographing and identifying wildlife around the city of Exeter and the Exe Estuary in my home county of Devon. I have a strong passion for all wildlife, but particularly birds and invertebrates. I am an avid and enthusiastic birdwatcher following voluntary work as Peregrine Warden with the National Trust in 2006. In 2013 I was lucky enough to travel and work in New Zealand, volunteering for The Papa and Auckland War Memorial Museums, whilst travelling to see some of the rarest birds that still survive on remote pacific islands such as the Takahe, Yellow-Eyed Penguin and Kokako.

Anthony is an enthusiastic birdwatcher following voluntary work as Peregrine Warden with the National Trust in 2006. Image: Plate 17 from John Gould's The Birds of Great Britain, Vol. 1 (1873, hand coloured lithograph).

Due to my strong interest in the  Museum's collections following repeated visits to exhibitions such as Dino-Birds in 2002, Wildlife Photographer of the Year and the Darwin Cenenary exhibitions in 2009, I was delighted to join the Natural History Museum as a Weekend Science Educator in 2010.

My interest in citizen science and teaching and inspiring people of all ages about wildlife has given me the chance to work with school and familiy audiences in the Museum's learning spaces and with Museum scientists on learnin projects and special events such as Dino Snores and Big Nature Day. I have really enjoyed working with fellow Science Educators in the flagship science centre 'Investigate' that allows visitors to handle and explore real natural history specimens, develop scientific literacy skills and inspire their interest in the natural world.

My proudest moment was in 2013, being asked to work alongside fellow Life and Earth sciences scientists in the Hintze Hall for the Museum's annual Science Uncovered event, where the public get the chance to meet scientists and understand the scientific research taking place at the Museum. My role was to assist the scientists and facilitate discussions with the public who were able to see incredibly rare and scientifically important specimens such as those collected by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russell Wallace.

I applied for the Identification Trainers for the Future traineeship to expand my knowledge of UK biodiversity and the mosaic of habitats that occur, and some of the main indicator species for the health of our environment. I was particularly moved as a result of the 2013 State of Nature report which showed that 60% of UK species studied had declined over recent decades and one in ten species assessed are under threat of disappearing altogether.

I wanted to do something more pro-active to help UK wildlife, inspire people of all ages through citizen science projects as well as continuing my passionate interest in museum collections. Working with staff in the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity (AMC) allows me to do all these thngs, as it is a place where reference collections allow people to identify what they find while the AMC runs citizen science projects, events and courses to help people learn about wildlfie, contributes valuable specimens to an ever-expanding library of life and are custodians of important botanical, entomological and zoological collections.

I love meeting new people and working in a team and so I am looking forward to the experiences that I will have to meet new people, visit new wildlife rich places around the UK and inspire others. I would like to use the skills and experience that I gain during the traineeship to improve my understanding of UK biodiversity and the role of habitat management in creating opportunities for wildlife rich landscape-scale conservation. I would like to further improve my knowledge and experience of handling, documenting and preparing specimens for museum collections, developing wildlife keys and interpretation and the critical skills and experience of surveying, identification and field recording as well as the abiltiy to assess habitats using industry recognised approaches.

Thanks Anthony! We'll be introducing the final member of the first cohort of trainees soon. If you'd like to find out more about the Identification Trainers for the Future project, and the traineeships, visit: www.nhm.ac.uk/idtrainers

In the second post in our series introducing the new trainees on the Identification Trainers for the Future project, meet Sally Hyslop a keen volunteer recorder who will be focussing on our Bluebells survey project in the next few weeks.

My curiosity for natural history stems from many years of study, both out in the field and academically. I studied Zoology at the University of Sheffield where I completed an undergraduate Masters degree. Volunteering, however, has always complimented my studies and I take any opportuity to learn a little more about the natural world. These experiences range from volunteering in the collections of my local museum to working with big cats in wildlife sanctuaries.

ID Trainer for the Future Sally Hyslop, whose background is in zoology.

Since leaving university and returning to my home in Kent, I have become increasingly involved in recording and monitoring the biodiversity in my area, taking part in identification courses and surveys with orgnaisations such as Kent Wildlfie Trust, Kent Mammal Group and Plantlife. I also volunteer as a Meadow Champion for the Medway Valley Countryside Partnership, a community-focused project which aims to increase understanding and conservation of our remaining meadow habitats.

Prior to starting as a trainee at the Museum, I was Young Facilitator for the National Council for Voluntary Youth Services, working alongside partner organisation The Conservation Volunteers on wildlife projects in Kent. I supported and led weekly sessions of school groups which were focused on inspiring environmental action and promoting outdoor learning. The children were always enthusiastic and inquisitive, making the challenge of explaining new ideas and concepts to them a pleasure.

Through my own amateur interest in ecology, I was able to introduce the children to basic identification, using all sorts of species encountered during the sessions as examples. Our sessions concentrated on creating new habitats in school grounds and I particularly enjoyed planting meadows with the children, an activity through which I could introduce the children to native wildflowers and their defining features. Working with school groups and at my local environment centre has given me new insight into wildlife education, which I hope will benefit my experience during the traineeship.

I look forward to developing my understainding of UK biodiversity throughout my time at the Museum, yet I am particularly excited about learning and developing creative ways to pass these skills on. I'm especially keen to start delving into the collections and it will be brilliant to have both the time and resources to improve on my identification - I also hope to use any spare moment practising scientific illustration!

Thanks Sally! We'll be introducing other members of the first cohort of trainees over the next couple of weeks. If you'd like to find out more about the Identification Trainers for the Future project, and the traineeships, visit: www.nhm.ac.uk/idtrainers

Welcome to the first blog post for the Museums Identification Trainers for the Future project! This exciting new project centers around 15 work-based traineeship positions that will be hosted at the Museum and has been designed to address the growing skills gap in species identification in the UK. We will be doing this by targeting species groups where there is a lack, or loss, of ID skills in biological recording.

Our first group of trainees started with us this month, having come through a very competitive selection process, and were selected from over 400 applications. Choosing our first cohort has meant we have had to make some difficult decisions: certainly by the standard of the 25 we invited to selection day back in January, there are some very capable and enthusiastic people out there, with everyone who came along performing extremely well. Hopefully that, of course, means great things for UK biodiversity and biological recording!

Our first trainees taking part in the Identification Trainers for the Future project

L-R Sally Hyslop, Michael Waller, Katy Potts, Anthony Roach and Chloe Rose

Sally, Katy, Michael, Chloe and Anthony will be introducing themselves in their own blog posts which will appear here over the next few weeks, so I will save mentioning more about their backgrounds here. They have a very busy year in front of them getting involved in our work in the Angela Marmont Centre for UK Biodiversity as well as working with our specialist curation teams and helping out at Field Studies Council centres across the country.

They will be building their own species identification skills through a wide range of workshops, field visits and private study and later on we will be looking at building their communication and teaching skills so they can pass on to others what they have learnt, which is the priniciple purpose of our new project. In the mean time they will also be out and about at various Museum events throughout the year, and we will be reporting back on those too as soon as we can.

For now that leaves me only needing to say a big welcome to all our trainees, I look forward to working with you over the next 12 months!

Steph West

Project Manager - Identification Trainers for the Future

The ID Trainers for the Future project is sponsored through the Heritage Lottery Fund’s Skills for the Future programme and is supported by the Field Studies Council and National Biodiversity Network Trust.

For more information, see our website

A team of Museum scientists and volunteers visited Slapton Ley Nature Reserve between 21-25 July to sample invertebrates from a variety of habitats. Rachel Clark writes about their final day in the field.

25 July 2014

Today was the last day of sampling and we all loved it! Unfortunately Sara had to leave today, so we took the final photograph of us all together before we set off for sampling.

All of us looking a little more tanned than when we arrived. Front row (left to right): Jan, Ryan, Fez, Georgie and Sara. Back row (left to right): Rachel, Thomas, George, Miranda and Beau.

Every evening this week we've been preparing the specimens we collected back at the field centre, and it's fiddly work!

The new age of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)

Some of the specimens collected during our fieldwork are destined for the Museum’s new Molecular Collections Facility (MRF), where they will be stored in liquid nitrogen at -150 °C to form a collection that can be used by scientists worldwide who want to study the DNA and other cellular contents of the species in question.

Over three evenings, after our lovely cooked meal served by Shaun from the FSC, two groups of four carefully collected tissue samples from freshly killed specimens.

The sample tissue (often the legs) were put into special small plastic vials then placed into liquid nitrogen vapour in a dry shipper, which freezes and preserves them.

Left: the small vials which contain tissue samples. Right: a dry shipper with nitrogen vapour inside.

In total we spent 49.5 person-hours over three days preparing the samples from 220 specimens, each sample taking on average 14 minutes to process. We tried to ensure that we only collected a maximum of two of each species - all being larger invertebrates (flies, grasshoppers, wasps, spiders etc).

Our last site!

While some enjoyed sweeping, pootering and collecting butterflies, two of us (Miranda and I) went in search for a new site on the lake to put down yellow pan traps. We ended up on the edge of Slapton village - a four-mile round trip!

The large, miles-long Slapton Ley!

The beautiful walkway created by the FSC, which runs through the swamp fen in the south grounds of the Nature Reserve.

We did get some amazing views and got to sample right in the middle of Slapton’s Swamp Fen, which is something we would not have achieved! The photograph above shows just how big the Ley is: miles!

Our last Supper

In the evening we headed off to our last dinner together before we packed up to head home. This was held in the main FSC centre in Slapton.

We would like to say a massive thank you for the staff that looked after our stomachs during our time in Slapton, and particularly Shaun who was there every day serving us breakfast and dinner!

Thank you for reading - I hope you have enjoyed our blogging!

Rachel

Goodbye beautiful Slapton!

The sun setting over Devon, from the field across from our base, Start Bay Centre.

A team of Museum scientists and volunteers visited Slapton Ley Nature Reserve between 21-25 July to sample invertebrates from a variety of habitats. Volunteer Rachel Clark reports back on their first day in the field.

Our first day of fieldwork mainly focused on a range of microhabitats in Slapton Woods, which is a short 10 minute walk from our base camp (Start Bay Centre).

Slapton Woods is ancient woodland located on the edge of Slapton Ley Nature Reserve, inland from the lake and the sea. The woodland has been around so long that is it is mentioned in the Domesday Book. Before the Field Studies Council (FSC) started to maintain the woodland (which they do only for public safety), it was largely unmanaged.

And so our first day of collecting started, deep in the amazing ancient woodland of Slapton Woods.

Now personally at this moment I felt like I was walking in the footsteps of great biologists such as Alfred Russel Wallace, Charles Darwin, and Henry Walter Bates... there are so many! I was so excited I could have danced through the woods. Raring to go with my backpack, pooter (that’s a suction device) and net, I caught up with everyone and we began to sample.

Working with creepy crawlies of the soil

Now this is an area which I know a lot more about, the sampling of invertebrates in the leaf litter and soil. Before we had a chance to get our bearings in the woods, Miranda, Georgie, Beau and myself got to work on some rotting logs.

Beau searching under some rotting logs for some good specimens for us to collect.

We were looking for groups like isopods (woodlice) and myriapods (centipedes and millipedes). This is done by opening up the rotting wood to expose the species which have burrowed into the wood.

It's all about the unknown - Malaise traps and yellow pan traps

So today, after a good few years sorting Malaise trap specimens in the Museum’s Soil Biodiversity lab, I finally got to see how Malaise traps work, which for me was really useful, as it means I can understand how the specimens were collected. 

Thomas putting the final peg in the Malaise trap, a device that captures winged insects.

Malaise traps collect species of insects which fly such as Diptera (flies) and Hymenoptera (bees and wasps). They work by allowing the insects to fly under a tented area. They hit the netting that runs down the middle of the trap and then fall to the floor or hang on the netting. All winged insects after falling to the floor want to fly or climb upwards The Malaise trap directs them up towards the highest point where there is a funnel leading into to a pot containing ethanol – which quickly kills them.

We will be keeping our Malaise traps up until Thursday evening, when we will take them down and hopefully have an amazing bounty which will take very many hours to sort to order (Diptera, Hymenoptera etc).

What we did after we finished sampling for the day

After all the excitement and seriousness of sampling in the heat all day, we all have to find a way to relax and unwind… my personal favourite for celebrating a first successful day of sampling is to jump into the sea… fully clothed!

Going, going, gone! Running in to the clear beautiful sea at Slapton Beach… yes, fully clothed!

Georgie enjoying the entertainment and me having a relaxing moment floating in the warm sea.

Moth traps and sweep net collecting in the next blog piece, so stay tuned.

Thanks for reading!

Rachel

After filling our water tanks and having breakfast, the Halton left Bergen harbor for our first diving site in Vatlestraumen on Sunday morning.

Leaving Bergen on Sunday morning.

This location is of interest to the bryozoan team because a species list was done in the area by Professor John Ryland (University of Swansea) back in the late 1950s. After dive checks are completed the bryozoan team jumps in.

Hamish supervising dive checks with Piotr.

Joanne, Piotr and Sally about to dive.

As the Halton circles, waiting for the divers the return to the surface, the Norwegian coastguard arrives and asks us to move from the area as the police are undertaking a missing persons search. With bryozoans and rocks on board, the days dive plan is hastily revised and we head for Åskenset, a short steam away.

The horse mussel team, which consists of Dr William (Bill) Sanderson, Prof Hamish Mair and Rebecca Grieves from Heriot Watt University, are looking for maerl (coralline red algae) and horse mussel beds as part of their biogenic reef project.

Bill and Rebecca waiting to dive while Hamish supervises.

After half an hour down, the divers come to the surface – it has proved unsuccessful and we move on. After a 2 hour steam through some narrow fjordic passages, we arrive in Herdlefjorden at a site commonly known as the Shark Wall. This vertical wall is unusual due to the shoals of tope (a small shark species), which congregate in these waters.

Piotr clutching his camera about to go down to the Shark Wall.

This would finish off the day’s underwater activities before the Halton started to steam north through wonderful Nordic scenery. Several hours later, we moor up overnight. The work for the day has not finished, however, as microscopes come out and Mary and Joanne review the days samples.

Bryozoans on rocks from Vatlestraumen.

Bryozoan zooids seen down the microscope.

More diving in the coming days. Check back for more soon!

As part of the background research for our expedition to the Norwegian Fjords and prior to joining the research cruise, Mary and I paid a visit to the University Museum of Bergen. The aim was to investigate bryozoan specimens collected from deep water around the coastline of Norway during the recent MAREANO project surveys.

The Bergen museum was actually founded in 1825 - they moved to the current building in 1866, and it is divided into two departments. These encompass Natural History Collections and the Cultural History Collections. There are also public events and exhibitions. The museum is situated within the grounds of a former Botanical gardens.

Renovations underway at the University Museum of Bergen.

The building is currently being renovated, so in order to view the holdings of the bryozoan material, we were hosted by curator Jon Anders Kongsrud, and taken to University of Bergen Marine Biological Station by the waterfront at Espeland. The lab is situated in a lovely bay, and it was great weather with sunshine and blue skies, paradise for a marine bryozoologist .

Enjoying the sunshine at Espeland Marine Biological Station.

We spent an industrious morning at the microscopes, viewing the MAREANO material collected in 2009. Among the samples were specimens collected from deep water stations around 2,000m, and we were able to identify some interesting species.

Identification under way in the lab at Espeland.

    Samples from the MAREANO collection.

A species of Bicellarina from the MAREANO collection.

This was an excellent opportunity to meet some of the staff and to enjoy the Norwegian hospitality. After lunch we were introduced to Emeritus Professor Brattegard, who has been compiling a checklist of the Norwegian bryozoan fauna, which he shared with us. His long experience in studying the distribution patterns of Norwegian marine life meant that he could also suggest some interesting locations for us to go and survey.

Following the visit, the last task of preparation for the day was to transport the consignment of sampling buckets from the marine station to the hotel in Bergen.

Mary manouvreing our bryozoan sampling buckets.

Tomorrow we will be joining the diving vessel MV Halton at the Bryggen waterfront in Bergen, ready to load on board all the equipment and supplies needed for the survey. We will need a large taxi to transport all our dive gear and equipment from the hotel!

Artist Chrystel Lebas and Museum biologist and botanist Kath Castillo are exploring the E J Salisbury collection at the Natural History Museum and Kew Gardens Archives. They hope to use Salisbury’s images of Scottish landscapes to reconstruct environmental change over the last 50 years.

Article in the New Scientist 11 June 1959, Courtesy of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Library & Archives.

Chrystel and Kath began looking for clues that could reveal more about Salisbury’s research on ecology and botany through his methods of recording data, his travel journals and field notes. Delving into the 30 boxes of Salisbury’s documents has also revealed a small collection of hand written quotations, puns and limericks.

The Salisbury archive at Kew Gardens is currently in the condition in which it was received and will be fully conserved when resources allow.

Museum biologist and botanist Kath Castillo and Artist Chrystel Lebas, researching the E J Salisbury collection at Kew Gardens. Photograph by Bergit Arends, project curator.

One of the notebooks found in Kew Library & Archives reveals a wealth of information including experimental data and research annotations on ecology. Courtesy of the Royal Botany Gardens Kew Library & Archives.

Funding from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation permitted Kath Castillo to join Chrystel on her research in Scotland. Kath, who joined the project in September 2013, provides the necessary scientific knowledge (botanical and ecological) that enables geographical and botanical determinations in the field, based on Salisbury’s recorded images in the same locations.

Kath and Chrystel on fieldwork in Scotland, October 2013 (Photographs by Bergit Arends).

Kath and Chrystel began the research and comparative study in Rothiemurchus Estate, a privately owned Highland estate within the Strathspey, northeast of the river Spey, in theCairngorms National Park.

Kath and Chrystel comparing and searching for Salisbury’s locations from his landscape images in Rothiemurchus Estate. Photograph by Bergit Arends.

The project engages with environmental change, particularly in the Scottish landscape, and creates new understandings of the artistic and scientific gaze onto the natural environment and its representation. The project is supported by a grant from the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundationand the University of the Arts London.

Kath holding one of E J Salisbury’s photographs against the Rothiemurchus landscape. Photograph by Bergit Arends.

Above left: Kath identifying a specimen. Right: Chrystel photographing ‘Vaccinium vitis-idaea on remains of pine bole in Rothiemurchus forest’. Bottom: Chrystel recording a view of the fens at twilight.

The Salisbury collection has, until recently, remained un-catalogued and undervalued. A collaborative approach to these materials is important as the plates represent an important piece of landscape and wildlife photographic history – UK natural history and photographic history knowledge and expertise will be essential to unlock the arts and science potential of this collection.

The images represent a unique record of landscapes that may have changed dramatically. They are an irreplaceable piece of the scientific information that may be used to investigate environmental change, either through natural processes or the hand of man.

We've been amazed by the amount and diversity of snail species in Cuc Phuong. We knew it was rich but we have found so many new and exciting species that we are struggling to process all the material (a good problem to have). The weather has improved slightly (good for us) but the ground and leaf litter is still really damp for collecting (good for the snails, everyone wins!).

Limestone outcrops in Cuc Phuong National Park, the perfect habitat for a snail hunt.

Megaustenia sp. is a semi-slug, see how the body (also called the mantle) almost completely covers the shell.

I can't wait to get back to the Museum to try and identify this large, keeled Camaenid.

Paul Pearce Kelly, the Senior Curator of Invertebrates and Lower Vertebrates at London Zoo, is joining us on field work for the first time. His aim (apart from helping us to collect snails) is to build up links with different groups in Vietnam to help conserve and study threatened species.

After finding some thought-to-be-extinct snails on our Vietnam trip in 2012, we hope that Paul, in conjunction with the Vietnam National Museum of Nature, will be able to set up a breeding programme to protect them against threats in future. As well as helping us collect, Paul took some great videos of animals alive in the field and he has kindly let me share them with you in my blog. In this one you can see the as yet unidentified  'looping snail':

The as yet unidentified 'looping snail'. See how only a small portion of the foot is in contact with the rock at any one time.

Another member of our group I'd like to introduce to you to is Jonathan Fenn, a biology placement student from Manchester University. Jonathan has been working with Fred and I for the past year on producing an illustrated guide of the slugs and snails of Northern Vietnam, as well as a species list with distribution data for terrestrial molluscs across the whole of Vietnam. The aim of the trip is to teach Jonathan more about fieldwork, collecting and preserving snails, and to gain experience in preserving viable cells (which I will discuss in my next blog).

Sang van Pham and Paul Pearce Kelly (left) in the national park, and Jonathan Fenn in collecting mode.

As well as snails, the forests and local areas are home to an amazing array of different animals. One of my favourites (not including the enormous spider that lives in my toilet, didn't think you would want a picture of that) was the praying mantis species I found outside my bedroom (see below). Sadly I missed the Vine Snake (Ahaetulla sp.) that my co-workers found when searching the trees for snails.

"What you lookin' at?"

So gutted I missed this Vine Snake (Ahaetulla sp.), what a beauty!

Since we'd all been working so hard we decided we deserved a visit to the Endangered Primate Rescue Center (EPRC) in Cuc Phuong National Park. The centre was established in 1993 and is dedicated to the rehabilitation, breeding and research of endangered primates as well as the protection of their habitats. The EPRC is home to over 150 primates from 15 Vietnamese species, including lorises, langurs and gibbons. My favourites were the wonderfully playful Gray Shanked Douc Langurs.

Grey Shanked Douc Langur family (Pygathrix cinerea), a critically endangered species endemic to Vietnam.

Some of the team with Liam Shepheard (centre in Green T-shirt), one of the head animal keepers at the Endangered Primate Rescue Center.

Our guide for the afternoon was Liam Shepheard, head animal keeper, who showed us the remarkable centre and told us about the amazing work they do in rescuing and when possible re-introducing animals back in to the wild. One species of Laotian Langur (Trachypithecus laotum) named 'Airport' is the only individual of its kind in captivity and is thought to be critically endangered in the wild. At times the stories were a sad and sobering experience but the success they are having is remarkable and it was real treat to be able to see these beautiful creatures up close.

Carnivore and Pangolin Rescue Center

After meeting the directors of Cuc Phong National Park over dinner the previous evening, we were invited to visit the Carnivore and Pangolin Rescue Center, a massive privilege as this is not normally open to the public. Many mammal species are being hunted for meat, the pet trade and in the case of the Pangolin, for Chinese medicine (the scales are used in medicines and the meat is regarded as a, ahem, male performance enhancer). The centre was set up to rescue illegally found animals and to develop techniques and procedures to allow the rehabilitation, breeding and reintroduction of such species back in to the wild.

We visited the centre at night, which is the best time to see the majority of the animals. Pangolins are my favourite mammal and I have never seen one before so this was a real highlight for me. The animal we met was called 'Lucky', a Sunda Pangolin who had been saved from captivity but who was sadly too tame to be re-introduced.

The Binturong (Arctictis binturong) - the cutest thing I have ever seen. Numbers have dropped due to hunting.

A Sunda Pangolin (Manis javanica) rescued from an illegal trader but sadly too tame to be released.

I also got to see another favourite of mine, the Binturong, a south-east Asian mammal related to civets whose numbers have been declining in the region due to threats from poachers.

A Few Thoughts from my Stomach

We have had some delicious and some challenging food in the last few days. Fried mixed mushrooms and chilli roasted chicken have been superb, whereas mixed offal and pak choi soup was something I am keen to avoid in the future (and I like offal). But today I thought I would tell you a bit about some of the mealtime extras I have enjoyed.

Nu?c ch?m is the name of a group of dipping sauces that are commonly served with meals that have a fish sauce base, often mixed with garlic, bird's eye chillis, garlic and sugar, with the precise mixture depending on the region. This sauce is, I think, delicious with morning glory and .. well, actually pretty much anything although a few of our group find it a bit overpowering (I would take some home but it is prohibited by most airlines as if it leaks it tends to smell forever!)

At the behest of our Vietnamese colleagues of course, we like to round the day off with a glass or two of Mountain Apple Brandy. The precise ingredients of this sour but delicious beverage are a closely guarded secret, and it is homemade by the wife of our driver, Mr. Kiem. I have however managed to find out that it contains a sour apple-like fruit, rice wine, mixed berries and a selection of herbs and bark. Whatever it is I'm sold!

Bite Count

0 Leech Bites (I cannot tell you how happy this makes me)

8 Mosquito Bites (in total, 5 new ones)

More Ant bites than a man should ever have to deal with! Itchy does not even come close.

Hello again - I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that we have all arrived safely in Hanoi. It's a hot and humid 25 degrees here but there has been constant heavy rain since we arrived and it looks set to continue for the next week or so. Whilst this may not sound ideal it is great weather for collecting slugs and snails as the wet weather tends to bring them out of their hiding places in the soil and the leaf litter, making them far less difficult to find and collect.

Jackie and Jonathan walk back in the rain .. how Hanoi-ing (sorry I love a bad pun).

Our first visit of today was to the Vietnam National Museum of Nature where we met the new director, Profesor Nguyen Dinh Cong and other senior staff members, and were given a tour of the new and soon to be opened exhibition spaces.

The museum opened in 2004, and houses over 40,000 animal, plant, fossil and geologicical specimens. The staff are heavily involved in studying the biodivertsity of Vietnam and promoting its importance for science and conservation, as well as in educating the local community about the natural history of Vietnam, the research and the collections that it houses.

We spent the afternoon sorting out all our collecting equipment that we need when working in the field. It's a bit like moving house packing boxes, and labeling them so that we can find everything easily when we arrive. It's good to find that everything we needed has arrived safely but I'm a bit worried about how we are going to fit it all in to our van.

Expert collectors

This seems as good place as ever to introduce you to one of the members of our team, Sang van Pham, who has previously joined us on our collecting trips in 2011 and 2012. Sang works in the Vietnam National Museum of Nature, primarily on the preservation and preparation of specimens for the collections and exhibitions, but on our trips he has become an expert in finding the smaller species that are often missed by the untrained eye.

During previous visits we have been helping to train Sang in the collection, identification and preservation of land snails, and Sang's knowledge of the biodiversity and ecology of Vietnam has been a great help in helping us to plan where we should sample on our various trips in Vietnam.

Sang van Pham sorting and preserving specimen in Vietnam in 2011.

The second member of our team I would like to introduce is Fred Naggs. Fred is the leader of the expedition and Biodiversity Officer at the Natural History Museum. His main area of interest is the diversity of terrestrial land snails in south-east Asia and India, and finding out how these species have spread over time and the factors which ave influenced their distribution.

Fred has a lot of experience in identifying and collecting snails in the tropics and always seems to know the best places to search. Although it seems to me that if this 'best place' is in an area that is hard to reach or excessively muddy it is me who is sent off to do the collecting whilst Fred stands in the dry shouting "left a bit" ... "no not that one" ... "just a bit higher" and other useful phrases.

Fred Naggs collecting snails in Sri Lanka.

Tomorrow we have an early start as we are traveling to Cuc Phuong National Park, 100 miles south-west of Hanoi, where we can start our fieldwork proper. I'm a little hesitant as the constant rain means the likelihood of being intimately attached (literally) to the local leech population is a likely occurrence.

Food update

On a side note, as someone who is mildly obssessed with food, good things I have eaten in the last 24 hours include:

• Bun-Cha: A Hanoian delicacy of grilled pork and noodles flavoured with mint, basil and a sweet sticky sauce.
• Bánh xèo: A Vietnamese pancake of pork, prawns, bean sprouts and rice batter wrapped up in a lettuce leaf - messy but delicious.
• Pho: Traditional beef noodle soup for breakfast, one of the (non-science) things I was most looking forward to on this trip (much tastier than cereal!).

Anyway, internet-availability depending, I hope to report back soon on our first day in the national park and let you know how our initial collecting went.

I am excited to announce the launch of Deep Sea ID, an app for the iPhone and iPad that provides taxonomic information on over 20,000 species, over 350 beautiful high resolution images of deep-sea specimens as well as links to online taxonomic tools, sources and important references. The app is completely free and I encourage interested users to download it here.

The deep sea is the largest yet least-explored ecosystem on the planet. Despite low temperatures, the absence of light and limited food availability, it is home to a remarkable diversity of marine life. Deep Sea ID is designed to enable faster access to important taxonomic information on these deep-sea animals and by including high quality specimen photos we are creating a field guide that can be used to identify specimens from collected samples or from video survey.

The app uses the species database at the World Register of Deep Sea Species (WoRDSS) which is itself a thematic database of the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS), the most up-to-date source of taxonomic information on marine life. When we update Deep Sea ID, changes from the WoRDSS and WoRMS websites will be automatically included.

The images in the app have been individually sourced and include many beautiful specimen photographs from both researchers and professional photographers. All copyright images are used with permission from the authors, and contact details for the photographers are provided with all images.

One of the most important features of the app is that all the data and images are available offline, and at high speed. This allows it to be used by deep-sea researchers during their long voyages at sea where internet access is limited. We plan to regularly update the app with more images as they become available, and we welcome any potential contributors to contact the team at the WoRDSS, the database that the app is built around.

The creation of this app would not have been possible without our partner organisations, including the WoRMS, and the National Oceanography Centre in Southampton. Funding has come from the International Network for Scientific Investigation of Deep-Sea Ecosystems (INDEEP). We are also extremely grateful to all those who have contributed images so far.

The taxonomic information held in the WoRDSS is sourced directly from the WoRMS, which is managed by an international Steering Committee, a Board of Editors and the IT team at the Flanders Marine Institute (VLIZ) in Belgium. Both the WoRMS and WoRDSS websites are hosted at VLIZ.

The species lists and images that are used to create Deep Sea ID are currently maintained at the Museum by me, Dr Adrian Glover, and at the University of Plymouth, by Dr Nicholas Higgs. At the National Oceanography Centre, Dr Tammy Horton is contributing to the species lists and co-ordinating the collation of taxonomic identification resources.

This is an ongoing project, and we plan regular updates to the app. We welcome corrections and contributions for the next version and if you are able to help, please get in touch.