Summer Events and Engagement
It’s been a whirlwind of activity with school visits and engagement events this summer! Read on for updates from Education and Training Officer Fiona on what she’s been up to!
Education and Training Officer, Fiona, trying to help a young seawatcher spot cetaceans! PC: Billy Heaney
This summer has been packed with exciting activities and events, from school visits to engagement sessions. As Education and Training Officer, I've had the pleasure of participating in various events that bring people closer to nature and conservation. Here’s a glimpse into the events and activities that have kept me busy over the past two months.
The summer season kicked off with running a “Youth Seawatch” as part of the Sea Watch Foundation's annual Orca Watch event. Our day was spent desperately scanning through telescopes, chatting to enthusiastic young sea watchers and some great engagement games and activities. Despite the initial lack of sightings, we enjoyed some fantastic orca-themed artwork. Credit must go to the young artists who managed to produce such lovely work on a cliff top in Caithness!
Young artists and their orca themed artwork! PC: Billy Heaney
Just 30 minutes after the event, we received news of orca sightings nearby. Myself, our ambassador Billy Heaney, and some young attendees managed to catch up with them at John O’ Groats. You see more of that adventure here.
Next up was an opportunity to visit a school in Monmouth who have formed the Monmouth Mammal Monitoring Project – a school based local mammal group. I was delighted to be invited to speak and run a workshop at their conference. Participants enthusiastically engaged in owl pellet dissection as part of our Searching for Shrews project and listened intently to my talk on mammal monitoring. It seems we have quite a few new schools ready to take on the Schools’ Mammal Challenge!
Students at the Local-Global conference getting stuck in to Owl Pellet Dissection! PC: Fiona Day
Participating in two Schools4Species conferences organised by the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust in Pembrokeshire and Gwent was another highlight. These events brought together local school children interested in conservation. Leading mammal tracks and signs walks and showcasing specimens from our collection was a joy - everyone enjoyed looking at the skulls and we managed to find plenty of evidence of mammals at both sites.
Our table of mammal related display items for exploration by the attendees!
After a morning of activities attendees at Schools4Species were tasked with letting politicians and policy makers know what matters to them. The young attendees passionately expressed their desire for more environmental education opportunities and urged politicians to take the climate and biodiversity crisis seriously.
Responses from attendees at the Pembrokeshire Schools4Species Conference to the question - “What matters most to you?”
Next, a three-day stint as a stallholder at the Global Bird Fair, promoting our Searching for Shrews project and raising awareness of the Mammal Society’s mission. It was wonderful to meet so many Mammal Society members, hear about their encounters with mammals, and inspire new journeys into mammalogy. We saw many enthusiastic young people who loved the owl pellet dissection last year and returned for more this year.
A big thank you to our lovely volunteers (Suzanne, Helen, Elisa and Şeniz) who helped at the stand!
A returning young owl pellet dissection volunteer, who enjoyed the activity so much last year she came back for more! PC: Fiona Day
Finally, this week, I had the pleasure of delivering a session at the Action for Conservation summer camp in Pembrokeshire. Spending an afternoon with 15 engaged young people keen to learn about mammalogy was incredibly rewarding. We discussed UK mammals, their conservation status, and monitoring methods, including setting camera traps. I’m hopeful they’ll capture some images of local mammals during the rest of their week. The session concluded with owl pellet dissection, contributing valuable data to our citizen science project.
A big thanks to Bob Cowley for delivering a similar session at their North West summer camp.
In addition to these events, our council members were also busy. Penny Lewns ran sessions for undergraduates and teachers at the British Ecological Society summer camps in North Wales, and Derek Crawley spoke at the UK ACT (Animal Care Technicians) annual conference about how attendees could help mammal conservation through monitoring.
I have just one more event this summer, and I think saved the best for last. Next week, I’ll join Matt, our CEO, our four new youth ambassadors, and our friends at Wild Discovery and Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust for three days of surveying marine mammals on the CalMac ferry route between Ullapool and Stornoway. My fingers are crossed tightly for views of humpbacks, fin whales, and perhaps even John Coe and Aquarius, the West Coast Community orca. Check back soon for our next blog post all about that event!
Our next event - surveying for marine mammals on board the CalMac Ferry!