Submitted by rich burkmar on Mon, 18/05/2015 - 09:37
Despite the fact that OS mapping is paid for by the British tax payer, anyone wishing to use OS data prior to 2010 had to pay considerable fees for the privilege of doing so. That was generally held to be iniquitous and a serious barrier to innovation and economic growth. In recognition of this, the OS started to produce, in 2010, a range of mapping products which are free to use: OS OpenData. This blog post illustrates the OS OpenData products that are available, free of charge, to QGIS users.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 05/05/2015 - 11:21
How would you describe spiders? Of all the adjectives these fascinating creatures might inspire, ‘lovable’ is probably not up there in the top ten. Ask someone to describe a spider and you will more likely hear people say ‘scary’, ‘horrible’, ‘disgusting’ or ‘terrifying’. How wrong they are!
Submitted by rich burkmar on Thu, 30/04/2015 - 08:31
Last week it was my great pleasure to attend the 2105 conference of the National Forum for Biological Recording which was jointly organised with the British Ecological Society's Macroecology Special Interest Group. In a wide-raging and memorable conference, which succeeded in bridging the gap between the academic and natural history ends of the biological recording world, one of the most interesting things for me was a workshop (and associated poster and presentation) on using molecular tools for biological recording.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 21/04/2015 - 11:09
Last week I had the very great pleasure of visiting FSC Nettlecombe to sit in on a National Plant Monitoring Scheme (NPMS) training course. Firstly, Nettlecombe – what a place! The FSC centre at Nettlecombe is a beautiful Grade 1 listed 16th century manor house, nestled in a pretty Somerset valley, and it truly feels miles from anywhere. A brilliant place to forget about the rest of the world and concentrate on...a new, exciting, national citizen science plant monitoring scheme!
Submitted by rich burkmar on Fri, 10/04/2015 - 11:57
As someone who studies invertebrates, I often find myself turning to the bottle. Whilst I would not recommend alcohol as part of a general approach to problem solving, I wouldn't be without it for preserving specimens. The animals I'm particularly interested in - spiders, harvestmen and, latterly, earthworms and springtails - are rather soft-bodied you see, and the accoutrements beloved of the coleopterist and dipterist - pins, plastazote, gum, card and the like - are of limited value to me; instead I require a copious supply of alcohol (and lots of little tubes).
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Thu, 02/04/2015 - 14:56
Another weekend, another invertebrate training course! Last weekend I attended the four day Soil Mesofauna course, a Tom.bio-supported training course delivered by the country’s top experts in soil science, springtails and mites.
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 25/03/2015 - 11:25
Last weekend Tom.bio welcomed the Earthworm Society of Britain to Preston Montford for their latest Field Meeting. A young and dynamic group, the ESB have done sterling work over the past few years to increase participation in the Earthworm Recording Scheme.
Submitted by rich burkmar on Mon, 16/03/2015 - 09:51
The National Forum for Biological Recording (NFBR) is a membership organisation with the unique distinction that it represents, at a national level, the interests and work of biological recorders across all taxonomic groups. We think of ourselves as an independent voice for biological recorders in the UK. For an increasing number of biological recorders, the annual NFBR conference is a highlight of the social and professional development calendars. This year's conference - 'A Question of Ecology – Answers from Biological Recording' - promises to be one of the most exciting and best attended ever.
Submitted by rich burkmar on Fri, 13/03/2015 - 10:00
According to someone, somewhere, Saturday 14th March is 'Save a Spider Day'! A quick search on Google indicates that for others it is 'Non-smoking Day' and I dare say, if I looked hard enough, I could quickly fill my diary for tomorrow, what with avoiding cigarettes, saving spiders and everything else!
Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 10/03/2015 - 09:51
Last week Tom.bio took a trip to visit the Entomology department at Liverpool’s World Museum. The trip, initiated by the FSC’s Invertebrate Challenge Project three years ago, has become something of an annual event. It’s a chance for local entomologists, including members of the Shropshire Spider Group and the Shropshire Entomology Group, to examine some of the museum’s impressive invertebrate collections.
Despite the fact that OS mapping is paid for by the British tax payer, anyone wishing to use OS data prior to 2010 had to pay considerable fees for the privilege of doing so. That was generally held to be iniquitous and a serious barrier to innovation and economic growth. In recognition of this, the OS started to produce, in 2010, a range of mapping products which are free to use: OS OpenData. This blog post illustrates the OS OpenData products that are available, free of charge, to QGIS users.
How would you describe spiders? Of all the adjectives these fascinating creatures might inspire, ‘lovable’ is probably not up there in the top ten. Ask someone to describe a spider and you will more likely hear people say ‘scary’, ‘horrible’, ‘disgusting’ or ‘terrifying’. How wrong they are!
Last week it was my great pleasure to attend the 2105 conference of the National Forum for Biological Recording which was jointly organised with the British Ecological Society's Macroecology Special Interest Group. In a wide-raging and memorable conference, which succeeded in bridging the gap between the academic and natural history ends of the biological recording world, one of the most interesting things for me was a workshop (and associated poster and presentation) on using molecular tools for biological recording.
Last week I had the very great pleasure of visiting FSC Nettlecombe to sit in on a National Plant Monitoring Scheme (NPMS) training course. Firstly, Nettlecombe – what a place! The FSC centre at Nettlecombe is a beautiful Grade 1 listed 16th century manor house, nestled in a pretty Somerset valley, and it truly feels miles from anywhere. A brilliant place to forget about the rest of the world and concentrate on...a new, exciting, national citizen science plant monitoring scheme!
As someone who studies invertebrates, I often find myself turning to the bottle. Whilst I would not recommend alcohol as part of a general approach to problem solving, I wouldn't be without it for preserving specimens. The animals I'm particularly interested in - spiders, harvestmen and, latterly, earthworms and springtails - are rather soft-bodied you see, and the accoutrements beloved of the coleopterist and dipterist - pins, plastazote, gum, card and the like - are of limited value to me; instead I require a copious supply of alcohol (and lots of little tubes).
Another weekend, another invertebrate training course! Last weekend I attended the four day Soil Mesofauna course, a Tom.bio-supported training course delivered by the country’s top experts in soil science, springtails and mites.
Last weekend Tom.bio welcomed the Earthworm Society of Britain to Preston Montford for their latest Field Meeting. A young and dynamic group, the ESB have done sterling work over the past few years to increase participation in the Earthworm Recording Scheme.
The National Forum for Biological Recording (NFBR) is a membership organisation with the unique distinction that it represents, at a national level, the interests and work of biological recorders across all taxonomic groups. We think of ourselves as an independent voice for biological recorders in the UK. For an increasing number of biological recorders, the annual NFBR conference is a highlight of the social and professional development calendars. This year's conference - 'A Question of Ecology – Answers from Biological Recording' - promises to be one of the most exciting and best attended ever.
According to someone, somewhere, Saturday 14th March is 'Save a Spider Day'! A quick search on Google indicates that for others it is 'Non-smoking Day' and I dare say, if I looked hard enough, I could quickly fill my diary for tomorrow, what with avoiding cigarettes, saving spiders and everything else!
Last week Tom.bio took a trip to visit the Entomology department at Liverpool’s World Museum. The trip, initiated by the FSC’s Invertebrate Challenge Project three years ago, has become something of an annual event. It’s a chance for local entomologists, including members of the Shropshire Spider Group and the Shropshire Entomology Group, to examine some of the museum’s impressive invertebrate collections.
