Picking up from where we left off in June – we have just completed our FSC placements and we were back to AMC to take the plunge into the exciting workshops lined up for us.

Bryophytes

Bryophytes were on the agenda first and we had the privilege to enjoy a presentation from one of the best experts in this challenging field: Dr.Fred Rumsey. After an introduction to the anatomy and life cycle of bryophytes we had a run through of the main British moss and liverwort families.

The second day brought more excitement, we were off to do some field work and surveying! The group was heading off to Abbey Wood in southeast London to visit an area which hasn’t been surveyed for 20 years. We all agreed it would be interesting to see how this Local Nature Reserve will fare in this survey after 20 years.  Fred helped us with identification right there and then and those bryophytes which proved to be more challenging have been collected and brought back to AMC. On Wednesday we spent the whole day identifying the samples under the microscope. Some of these organisms are so difficult to separate that we needed compound microscopes to examine fine details and features. Overall, our survey list added up to 60 odd species with a few new records for the site as well.

Ferns and Horsetails

If that was not enough, on Thursday we were introduced to another ancient plant group: the ferns and horsetails. Compared to the vast number of moss species (1,100 sp. for Britain) ferns and horsetails appeared to be more manageable with 70-80 species.

Following up the Bryophytes Workshop we also attended the Integrated Pest Management course (IPM). The danger and risk of pests’ damages to the collections is very real in every museum therefore it is vital that everyone working with valuable treasures is knowledgeable about pest control. We were presented with various pest specimens collected in the Natural History Museum and were asked to identify them. During the afternoon we had a trip around the museum looking at certain challenges (architectural arrangements etc.) that pest control management has to face.

It was during this week when the ID Trainers took part in another BioBlitz, this time it was held at Tring. We were greeted at the station by Abbey one of the education officers. The whole event was organised very well with specific time slots for every activity. All five of us had the opportunity to take part in pond dipping, mini-beast hunting, small mammal trapping. It was a very enjoyable day – albeit rather a gloomy one – with some specimens collected for later identification. The constant flow of people ensured that we had enough time to talk to everyone.

Working here at the Natural History Museum comes with many advantages and one of them is that whenever we have some free time we can attend any of the free lectures. One of these talks I attended was on climate change and reptile conservation, which featured many fascinating research studies.

Freshwater Invertebrates

In the last week of June we have ventured into the territory of freshwater invertebrates for a week under the guidance of Steven Brooks. After an introduction to the group we went outside to the Wildlife Garden to collect samples from the ponds. The highlight for me was the use of a huge TV screen connected to the microscope. This way, Steven could easily explain and demonstrate the determining features of specific species. We have covered many different genus and even got the opportunity to prepare slides of small midges. These tiny organisms require special treatment, their heads need to be separated from their body first, and then the head needs to be in a certain position before the cover slip is put on. This is to do with the jaws of the midge needing to be clearly visible as it has very important identification features.

I feel that we have all learnt a tremendous amount during these workshops; every one of them makes us so enthusiastic and encourages us to go out and look for mosses, lichens, plants, earthworms, insects in our spare time. The experts and lecturers are always more than happy to help with identification; we are truly privileged to have them so close by!

We are also very much looking forward to the upcoming Diptera, Lepidoptera (moths) and Hymenoptera workshops during the following months!

Written by Krisztina Fekete

The post ID Trainers update – July 2016 appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.

We have had an amazing experience at the Natural History Museum so far. We kicked off at the beginning of March with a very warm welcome from the Museum, both from our introductions and tours at the Angela-Marmont Centre (AMC) and the NHM Big Welcome. We were introduced to a variety of departments, libraries and collections.

The highlights for us were seeing the Integrated Pest Management (IPM), botanical library, tank room and the British herbarium and British invertebrate collections. On the IPM tour it was really interesting to learn about the different techniques that are used, while avoiding chemicals, to keep pests like the biscuit beetle out of our collections. The importance of this was brought home to us seeing the damage that could be done within a very short space of time. The botanical library was stunning. Not just for the vast amount of knowledge and historical significance tucked away in those shelves, but also for the volumes of marvelous botanical art. We were all taken aback by the skill and anatomical detail these paintings showed. Between the tank room, herbarium and invertebrate collections we saw a variety of ways in which we should preserve specimens. From the smallest flies dry and pinned, to sharks submerged in ethanol. These varieties in preservation techniques are really important to insure that the specimens can be identified and used for decades to come.

The wildlife garden has been a fantastic place for us to practice different survey techniques with the added bonus of contributing to records there. We are looking forward to spending more time there as the year continues.

The team at the AMC have been incredibly welcoming. We feel part of the team since we have been attending meetings and helping out with various projects, such as verifying photo identification for the OPAL bugs count, reorganising the AMC library, helping prepare survey packs for the Earthworm watch survey. We have also been getting ready for the upcoming BioBlitz’s at Brompton cemetery (27th – 28th May) and Tring (18th June) as well as the Nature Day at the Gilbert White Museum (28th May). We are also looking forward to helping manage the identification Twitter account, which will mean we have more interaction with members of the public while improving our identification skills and networking with experts around the Museum.

Throughout Phase 1 of our traineeship we have been introduced to topics relevant to identification and going out and recording. Our first was an introduction to taxonomy and keys, which really helped us to understand the process that taxonomists use in applying a name to a species as well as the different methods of forming keys. We soon discovered between us that we all had varying success with different keys, and that it was really important to try out a variety of keys with each group to find which one best suited us individually. On top of all this we had the pleasure of visiting the Museum of Tring, The Linnean Society and the Biological Records Centre (BRC). The team at Tring were very welcoming and showed us around the amazing collections that they have, from fleas with clothes to their egg collection, and of course their outstanding bird specimen collection.

Our trip to The Linnean Society was jaw-dropping with so much history and knowledge in one building. We are now always on the lookout for days we are free to go back and listen to one of the many lectures and debates available to the public at The Linnean Society.

We have learned so much over the last two months and are all feeling more confident about going into the next phase of the traineeship where we will be doing identification workshops across difficult groups, such as bryophytes and hymenoptera. We will also be starting our placements with the Field Studies Council (FSC), which we are all very excited about!

We can’t wait to get going with Phase 2 of the ID Trainers for the Future traineeship.

Written by Sophie Trice

The post ID Trainers update – May 2016 appeared first on National Biodiversity Network.