This year’s NBN Conference took place on Wednesday 24 November and was held online.

All of the presentations are available from the Presentations page.

The information below relates to the programme for the day and is retained for information purposes.

Theme and outline of the day

This year’s theme is “Biodiversity data – from collection to use”.

Following the successful collaboration with the Open University and the iSpot team last year, and their invaluable help with the technical side of proceedings, we are delighted that we are running this as a co-hosted NBN Trust and iSpot/Open University event again in 2021.

The event will run using Microsoft Teams, an online conferencing platform. Information on joining the event will be sent out in advance, along with guidance to help you with using the software.

The one day event will consist primarily of 10 minute talks plus Q&A, as well as a keynote presentation, given by Craig Bennett, CEO of The Wildlife Trusts and the annual Sir John Burnett Memorial Lecture, given by Rosie Hails, Director of Nature and Science at The National Trust.

The announcement of the winners and runners up in the NBN Awards for Wildlife Recording will also be a highlight of the day.

There will be regular tea / coffee and a lunch break to give everyone time away from their PCs.  However, for those who wish to catch up with colleagues, there will be an area for networking and the NBN Trust AGM will take place during lunch.

Speakers and programme

The confirmed speakers are as follows. Please click on the names for more information and details of the individual presentations (where the information is available):

  • Genevieve Barrett, 3rd Year BSc Wildlife Ecology & Conservation Student at University Centre Sparsholt – “Hedgerow Heterogeneity and Management, the Influence on Breeding Populations of Yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella)”
  • Craig Bennett, Chief Executive Officer at The Wildlife Trusts will give the Keynote Address – “From data to delivery”
  • Clare Blencowe, Chair of the Recorder 6 Steering Group and Manager at Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre – “A strategic perspective on Recorder 6”
  • Lisa Chilton, Chief Executive Officer, NBN Trust – “Making data work for nature”.
  • Lisa Chilton, Chief Executive Officer, NBN Trust and Ellen Wilson, SBIF Co-Chair – “Scotland’s Better Biodiversity Data project”
  • Oli Grafton, Principal Advisor for NCEA (Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment) Citizen Science & Partnerships, Natural England – “Transforming our investment in England’s biological data infrastructure”
  • Rosie Hails, Nature and Science Director at The National Trust will deliver the Sir John Burnett Memorial Lecture – “Biodiversity data: from its collection to our use?”
  • Tim Hirsch, Deputy Director, Head of Participation and Engagement at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) Secretariat – “Sharing data on a global scale: how records submitted to the NBN Atlas are used globally through GBIF”.
  • Charlotte Martin, 3rd year Wildlife and Conservation Management student at SRUC (Scotland’s Rural College) Edinburgh – “A Glowing Report for Scotland”.
  • Mike Morris, Head of programme: eBioAtlas at Nature Metrics – “eDNA: working together to scale up the measurement of nature”.
  • Michael Pocock, Senior Researcher at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology – “Recording nature where it matters: The DECIDE Project for precision citizen science”
  • Sophia Ratcliffe, NBN Atlas Data Manager – “Highlights from the NBN Atlas”.
  • David Roy, Head of the Biological Records Centre at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology – “Navigating the growing diversity of systems to submit, view and share wildlife sightings”.
  • Daniel Salliss, Research Associate at the University of East Anglia (UEA) – “Optimising landscape scale conservation interventions through Biodiversity Auditing”.
  • Rona Sinclair, Marine Data and Ecology Advisor at NatureScot – “Harnessing the value of Scottish marine biodiversity data to benefit nature: streamlining data flows and unlocking marine data sources”.
  • Holly Woo, PhD student at The Open University – “Using historic records to identify changes in ancient woodland flora in a new urban landscape”

Final programme

(as at 20 November)

Short member videos

During the Conference four short videos, created by NBN Trust members, will be available for viewing. Information on the videos can be found here. The link to view them (for non-delegates) will be available after the Conference.

Bookings

The costs for attending are:

Students: £20

Members: £30

Non-members: £40

Social media

Join in on the day using #NBNconf21

Sponsors

We are once again indebted to Habitat Aid for its sponsorship of the NBN conference and to iSpot and The Open University for co-hosting this years’ event