News and events
NBN Conference 2023 – Presentations
Thank you to everyone who joined us for this year’s NBN Conference on 23 November at the National Museums Scotland in Edinburgh. It was great to see so many of you and we hope you enjoyed the day as much as we did.
Just under 160 delegates joined us, so thank you very much for your support.
Presentations and audio recordings
Links to all of the presentations from the Conference can be found below, which appear in chronological order from the day. Each speaker’s name links to more information about them. We also have an audio recording of the day, as shown below. The timings of each presentation are shown on the link.
Listen to the audio recording of the opening session
Listen to the audio recording of session 1
Listen to the audio recording of session 2
Listen to the audio recording of session 3
Listen to the audio recording of session 4
Màiri McAllan MSP
Màiri McAllan MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Net Zero and Just Transition gave an opening speech (no slides were used).
The Facebook Live clip can be viewed online
Chris Breward
Welcome to the Museum by Chris Breward, Director, National Museums Scotland
Helen Manders-Jones
Helen Manders-Jones – NBN Atlas Lead Developer, NBN Trust – “NBN Atlas 2023 update”
Charlotte Bolton and Iain Dixon
Charlotte Bolton, National Seasearch Coordinator, Marine Conservation Society and Iain Dixon, Seasearch Scotland Coordinator, Marine Conservation Society – “35 years of Seasearch – building on volunteer data into the future”
Download Charlotte and Iain’s presentation
Simon Rolph
Simon Rolph, Data Scientist, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology – “Assessing NBN Atlas comprehensiveness and the impact of data providers: Insights from a Data Study Group”
Kyle Copas
Kyle Copas, Communications Manager, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) – “Transmitting the value of GBIF at national scale”
Dr Michael Tetley
Dr Michael Tetley, Better Biodiversity Data project – Scotland Programme Manager, NBN Trust – “The Better Biodiversity Data Project”
Download Michael’s presentation
Dr Ben Rowson
Dr. Ben Rowson, Honorary Non-marine Recorder, Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland / Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales – “Non-marine mollusc distribution mapping by the Conchological Society of Great Britain & Ireland: a citizen science project in the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries”
Dr Steph Bradbeer
Dr. Steph Bradbeer, Senior Ecologist (Biosecurity and Invasive Species), Yorkshire Water – “INNS Mapper – recording invasive non-native species sightings, survey and management”
Adam Fraser
Adam Fraser, Monitoring Ecologist, Cairngorms National Park Authority – “Monitoring biodiversity in the Cairngorms National Park”
Natalie Prosser
The Sir John Burnett Memorial Lecture 2023 – Natalie Prosser, Chief Executive Officer, The Office for Environmental Protection – “Tackling the biodiversity crisis through effective environmental governance – the role and work of the OEP”
No slides were used.
The Facebook Live clip can be viewed online
Celebrating the NBN Awards 2015 – 2022
Cally Ullman-Smith – David Robertson Youth Award winner in 2015
Mhairi McCann – David Robertson Youth Award winner in 2017
(Mhairi didn’t have a presentation)
Matt Larsen-Daw, CEO of the Mammal Society. The Mammal Society won the Group Award in 2020.
Dakota Reid – winner of the Newcomer award in 2021
We are also pleased to share video clips from other Award recipients as follows:
- George Greiff winner of the NBN Newcomer Award in 2018
- Sophie Webster – Newcomer Award runner up in 2020
- Croxteth Park Volunteer Group – runners up in the NBN Group Award category in both 2019 and 2021
- Sue Taylor – winner of the Newcomer Award in 2019 (please click the sound icon in the top right corner of the slides to hear the presentation)
Giselle Sterry
Giselle Sterry, iNaturalistUK lead, NBN Trust – “iNaturalistUK – growing the network and increasing our knowledge”
Download Giselle’s presentation
Lucy Robinson
Lucy Robinson, Citizen Science Manager, Natural History Museum, London – “Boosting biodiversity in education: linking community science with action”
Panel Discussion
“The State of Nature – how can our Network show the value of data in contributing to nature’s recovery?” Panelists were:
Dr. Fiona Burns – Principal Conservation Scientist, RSPB
Deb Muscat – ALERC National Coordinator, Association of Local Environmental Records Centres
David O’Brien – Biodiversity Evidence and Reporting Manager, NatureScot
The session was chaired by NBN Trust Patron, Sir John Lawton
Refer to the panel’s questions
Lisa Chilton
Lisa Chilton, NBN Trust CEO – “The Art of Data – harnessing creativity to maximise the impact of biodiversity data”
Neil Hodges, NBN Trust Chairman
