It's TMA time!

It's time to submit my first Level 2 assignment, and it hasn't been too bad so far. The questions have been mostly map-reading and spreadsheets, both of which I am comfortable with. I spend most of my working day using Excel, so the calculations and graphs didn't pose too much of a challenge.

There has been a bit of dissent on the student forums about having an assignment on map reading as part of an environmental sciences course. Personally I think it is an excellent idea. You need to be able to 'read' a map and get a feel for the environment - it helps you plan field work without leaving the house. You can understand the terrain, water courses and vegetation, as well as how remote or accessible an area is.  Likewise, when you are out in the field you need to be able to know where you are - not just to prevent getting lost, but to accurately pin point where you find things. You need to be able to relate features so that you can draw accurate conclusions about your results.

Somehow though, I think future assignments will be a bit more challenging for me.

Postscript: Excellent mark received for my first assignment - very encouraging! I'm determined to put 100% effort into my continous assessment, as I know I won't be as strong in the written exam.

Weekend Wanderings

I've struggling to get motivated with my study texts this weekend, but have managed to identify a couple more plants for my BSBI revision. I find its easier to learn if you identify things you see in the field and can touch, rather than just looking in books. During a woodland walk I identified sweet violet (Viola odorata), not in flower but identifiable from its hairy leaves, and cow parsley (Anthriscus sylvestris) with its distinctive smell if the leaves are crushed.

In the woods we also heard a woodpecked drumming away. It was too far away to see, but I am guessing it was a Great Spotted Woodpecker.  Yesterday, I also saw a pair of tree creepers making their way up the side of a tree. It's good to see some life coming back after what seems like has been a long, cold winter.

Flower of the Week

At an undergraduates life sciences career conference at Leeds University last year, I was talking to one of the speakers who told me about the BSBI plant test.

The Botanical Society of the British Isles is an organisation for both professional and amateur members, and is devoted to the study of botany in the British Isles.

To give its proper title, the Field Identification Skills Certificate assesses your botanical skills in both a lab session and site survey. There is no fail - after the assessment, you get ranked on a scale of 0-7 ... 0 being general population and 7 being outstanding/expert.

I signed up for the test, which takes place in July, and would like to get at least a grade 2. In the New Year, I set myself the task of learning at least one new plant per week, but at the same time also being able to identify this from 'look-alikes' so in reality it is 3-4 plants per week.

I was doing really well, but have just realised I haven't made an entry since the end of January so I have a bit of catching up to do!

Inspired by my S216 Teign Valley Field Guide, my flower of the week is going to be common knapweed Centaurea nigra, which apparently is a good wildflower for the garden as it attracts bees and butterflies, and finches will feed on its seeds. There are several other similar plants, including burdocks and thistles, to keep me happy researching for the rest of the evening ...

BES Undergraduate Conference

On Monday I attended the 2nd BES undergraduate careers conference at Charles Darwin House in London.  There were speakers from a range of organisations, providing lots of advice and guidance for budding new ecologists.  As a mid-life career changer, I felt rather old compared to the rest of the audience!

The penultimate talk of the afternoon was given by Tom Ezard, University of Southampton, who talked about the importance of Twitter and blogging as tools for young ecologists.  I must admit I was sceptical at first.  Faced with numerous Facebook pages and OU study forums, I find that 95% of this information is irrelevant to me (or even demotivating), and is actually a distraction from studying.  There is the odd bit of useful information on there that does help me, and I'm sure there's other stuff that I just miss in amongst all the rubbish.

So why would I want another piece of tech firing even more information into my already busy head?  And what would I post that others would find remotely interesting?

I subscribed to Twitter yesterday and learnt that you can follow without having to reply or write your own 'tweets'.  And in a couple of minutes I had subscribed to follow a handful of organisations that I am interested in. I can see their latest news and views at a glance, and its a really quick way of seeing what's going on.  Maybe I can be converted to this after all.

And as for blogging, well, let's just see how long I can keep this up.

For a full run down of the day, check out the blog of Jen Cooper, one of the BES undergraduate fellows who helped to organise and run the day.

Posted

Well, that's it. I have put my profile and travel forms in the post to Earthwatch. I am now officially looking forward to my expedition to South Africa. I had better start reading up about penguins ...