Liz Andrew is the Chair of the Hampstead Heath Survey section of LNHS, as well as the Papers Editor for the London Bird Report Editorial Board and also serves on the LNHS Council.
Liz also chairs the Ecology & Conservation Studies Society and tells us in the article below what the society has to offer London's naturalists...
The Ecology and Conservation Studies Society
The Ecology and Conservation Studies Society (ECSS) was established in 1980 by students taking a Certificate in Ecology and Conservation. This was a course set up by the Department for Extra-mural Studies at the University of London for adult students of any academic background. Both the course and the society later moved to Birkbeck College where the course became a Diploma and Birkbeck remained the society’s base until 2019.
The aim of the society has always been to encourage interest in conservation, based on sound ecological principles, through lectures, field visits and meetings. Since our inception we have run 1-2 annual series of evening lectures focussing on a cutting-edge issue in ecological and environmental science.
For example, in the last few years we have had lecture series on, amongst others, Managing Wildlife Habitats, Nature in the Green Belt and Transport and Nature.
These lecture series have attracted a wide audience, from wildlife organisations and environmental practitioners to anyone with an interest in natural history. Their strength has been that they allow a topic to be explored in depth, introducing questions, innovations and debate, while at the same time providing an introduction to the ecology of a range of animals and plants. They also provide an insight into how the data collected from biological recording can help us understand their distribution and numbers. Bringing people with different perspectives together enables them to bounce ideas off of each other, celebrate discoveries and find friends and collaborators.
Gardening for Wildlife virtual lecture series
This year, with Covid restrictions still firmly in place and little chance of the lecture theatres reopening, the ECSS has been fortunate to be able to join up with the LNHS in their Virtual Natural History Talks programme to provide an insightful series of lectures on Gardening for Wildlife.
In these times, when people are being encouraged to make space for wildlife in their garden, patio or window box, and to think about ways to provide or enhance wildlife corridors to prevent biodiversity loss, we hope that all participants, whether members of the LNHS and ECSS or not, will enjoy this first joint lecture series and be inspired to get out into their gardens or public green spaces with new enthusiasm, curiosity for what is living there already, and some fresh ideas for how they can help their wildlife and its biodiversity.
The details of the lectures are listed below and can be found on the LNHS Virtual Natural History Talks webpage. You can download the introduction and reading list for the Gardening for Wildlife series via the link below.
- 10/06/21 Are Gardens Good for Birds? Mike Toms
- 08/07/21 Bird Census Methods for Gardens: A 30-year study Dave Dawson
- 05/08/21 Gardening for Wildlife: The Sheffield BUGS Project Ken Thompson
We would like to thank the LNHS for allowing us to share their virtual platform and look forward to more productive collaborations in the future.
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Download the Gardening for Wildlife lecture series reading list
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Book on the Gardening for Wildlife lectures through the LNHS Eventbrite page
Author: Liz Andrew, Ecology & Conservation Studies Society
Date Published: 20/02/2021
