We are sad to report that Ioan F Thomas (CF 1968) has died. Ioan was a biology teacher and highly regarded field botanist. He ran many plant identification workshops and was a Vice President of the Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs and Northants. Ioan was passionate about encouraging young people in engaging with biology and his Fellowship focused on leading an expedition of young people to a nature reserve.
Senior Environmental Specialist (Mammals) Katherine Walsh (CF 2019), spoke at an event for ZSL, an international conservation society on 6 June, entitled 'Lynx Recovering in Europe - Lessons for the UK'. You can see a recording of the event on Youtube.
By Katherine Walsh,
Principal/Director Henry McGhie (CF 2020) was awarded an outreach grant from the British Ecological Society (£1,900) for design costs for an open-access guide on the new Global Biodiversity Framework. He has also joined the steering committee of the UK Alliance for Disaster Research (UK-ADR), which aims to promote partnerships and collaborations for Disaster Risk Reduction. Henry also made a submission to the UN Special Rapporteur on Cultural Rights, who had a call out on culture and cultural rights in sustainable development. He also made a submission to the UN inquiry on progress on the Paris Agreement, called the Global Stocktake, to make recommendations on how to accelerate and scale-up climate action. Henry presented a poster at the UN Climate Change conference in Bonn, Empowering Museums to Empower Others through ACE.
By Henry McGhie,
Site Manager with the Woodland Trust Scotland, Ross Watson (CF 2023) has featured in Strathspey & Badenoch Herald. Ross talks about how he will be using his Churchill Fellowship to visit areas in Cambodia, Slovenia, Croatia and Serbia to learn more about different models for managing invasive plant removal, with a holistic approach and ensuring sustainability through the involvement of communities, young people and land managers. Ross explains that his interest derives from dealing with the range of invasive plants that live on the sites he manages. He hopes that his learning will enable him to develop projects in two Special Areas of Conservation, removing invasive non-native plants from the sites and the wider landscape. The projects will help to develop training and education opportunities for young people.
By Ross Watson,
Former Head of the School of Forestry, Amanda Bryan (CF 2023) has appeared in Scottish Press & Journal, a Scottish news website. The article states that as part of her Fellowship next April Amanda will visit Michigan and Wisconsin where projects have embedded forestry education across the school curriculum. Amanda will be investigating whether an American-style scheme work in the Highlands and if linking schools to forests could help tackle a workforce shortage in the forestry industry.
By Amanda Bryan,
