Ciara was delighted to find a Shepherd's-purse in flower! New Year Plant Hunt 2017, Leicester Image: K. Akkerman |
Last year, Ciara Sugrue, PhD student at University of Loughborough, joined the team to help out behind the scenes and she has very kindly agreed to come back again this year.
I asked Ciara to tell us a bit about her experience as a New Year Plant Hunt volunteer, why she got involved and to remind us what the New Year Plant Hunt is all about.
Over to Ciara:
I asked Ciara to tell us a bit about her experience as a New Year Plant Hunt volunteer, why she got involved and to remind us what the New Year Plant Hunt is all about.
Over to Ciara:
"The New Year Plant Hunt (NYPH) is undergoing its seventh year of
data collection from Saturday 30th December to Tuesday 2nd January.
"The aim of
the NYPH is to walk for up to three hours identifying wild or naturalised flowering
plants. This data collection is very important as it helps to build a bigger
picture of how many plants are flowering in winter in the UK and Ireland, in
light of climate change.
The New Year Plant Hunt website showing 2017 results |
"In January 2017, I volunteered for a week to assist in the
NYPH. Last year a new mobile form was created to record the flowering plants on
your phone and there was a new website with an interactive map, so you could enter the records at home and see what other people were recording.
"The forms are really user friendly. Plant records can be entered quickly and easily whilst on the plant walk or at home. This allowed plant species to be documented without having to be manually entered by the volunteers.
"For those that lacked a smart phone, I helped enter in over 500 individual species records on the website form. The mobile form and website were a great success, and we have to thank Tom Humphrey and the Biological Records Centre/Centre for Ecology & Hydrology for creating them!`
"The forms are really user friendly. Plant records can be entered quickly and easily whilst on the plant walk or at home. This allowed plant species to be documented without having to be manually entered by the volunteers.
Geoffrey Hall (County Recorder for Leicestershire & Rutland (VC55) examining Wall Barley to see if it was in flower. He decided it wasn't! New Year Plant Hunt 2017 Image: C. Sugrue |
"For those that lacked a smart phone, I helped enter in over 500 individual species records on the website form. The mobile form and website were a great success, and we have to thank Tom Humphrey and the Biological Records Centre/Centre for Ecology & Hydrology for creating them!`
"This year I will be volunteering for another week with the
BSBI. Part of my volunteering includes checking records. Where flowering plants
have never been recorded in that area, I manually check the records. By processing
these records I develop my knowledge of the flowering plant distribution in the UK and Ireland.
"Last year I attended two New Year Plant Hunts organised by the Leicestershire VC55 BSBI group as part of my volunteering, which I thoroughly
enjoyed. 2017 was the first year I have taken part in the NYPH and would highly
recommend it to beginners. During the two Leicestershire surveys (one in the city, one in the countryside), we recorded between 25- 35
flowering plants each time, which was the perfect amount as I was able to refresh my
memory and learn how to identify a handful of new plants.
"There were botanists
with a range of expertise, allowing us to learn from one another. I
really enjoyed the first (rural) NYPH, so much so that I took one of my colleagues Keechy
Akkerman out with me on my second (urban) trip!
Keechy Akkerman learning how to identify wild flowers with Ciara's trusty 'Collin's Flower Guide'. Image: C. Sugrue |
"As I am volunteering again this year I am looking to create ambassadors
from universities with a strong botanical background that can organise a NYPH on
their campus or in their local area. I have met many excellent
botanists who began as students or who were self-taught and believe it is
extremely important to share this knowledge.
"If you would be interested in helping coordinate a NYPH on your University campus please contact me via the NYPH email account nyplanthunt@bsbi.org
and we can post your event on the new Events page on the NYPH website.
"If you would be interested in helping coordinate a NYPH on your University campus please contact me via the NYPH email account nyplanthunt@bsbi.org
and we can post your event on the new Events page on the NYPH website.
"I would like to say a final thank you to the NYPH team from 2017: Ian,
Richard, Ryan and Tom. With a special thank you to Louise (BSBI Communications Officer) and Kevin (Head of Science) as without them I wouldn’t have been able
to take part in this great event. I would also like to welcome Ellen Goddard
from Loughborough University who will be volunteering with the NYPH this year –
welcome to the team Ellen! - and I'm also looking forward to working with Jo, who is based in London and is also joining the team this year.
"Happy New Year Plant Hunting!"
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