Spatial Ecology Conference

08 September 2011

Mike Shackshaft attends to learn about the relevance to WWT Consulting's work

From the 5th – 7th September, Mike relocated to Birmingham University to attend the first Spatial Ecology and Conservation Conference. The talks and posters covered a wide range of topics focusing on the collection, analysis and application of spatial ecological data. Scales ranged from small populations of Damselflies up to habitat mapping of European sea beds with a whole host of remote sensing, fieldwork and analytical techniques used.

The main aim of the conference, which can be read in full on the University of Birmingham's website here, was to 'increase dissemination of knowledge in relation to: (i) sources of ecological data, (ii) new technologies and methods for the analysis of ecological data, and (iii) best practice for using ecological data to underpin conservation. This will lead to improvements in the development and evaluation of conservation actions, strategies and policies within organisations and between regions.'

Of particular interest to the work that we do were talks given by the Dutch National Environmental Research Institute (NERI) and the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) on the collection and analysis of seabird data and the creation of marine Special Protected Areas (SPAs) respectively. Our project work, for a range of clients, has contributed to this process so it was great to see the results.

Overall it was a really enjoyable and interesting conference, oh and the rhubarb biscuits in the tea break were pretty good as well.