Gardens, bugs and science

Introduction to Garden Bugs

What are these wonderful wild critters sharing our spaces? Overview of different types of invertebrate you’re likely to encounter, what they’re all up to, and how you can help support their important ecological roles.

Spectacular Spiders

Spiders are so important in nature, controlling populations of other invertebrates and forming keystone parts of food chains. Yet they have the ultimate (undeserved) Creepy Crawly reputation. Learn more about spider biology, their ecology, and loads of fun spider facts in this reputation rehab for awesome arachnids!

Wildlife Gardening for invertebrates

Invertebrates are vital to the garden ecosystem, but are often dismissed or relegated to ‘pests with exceptions’. This talk discusses what sort of benefits those bugs are actually providing, and methods for managing your green spaces with invertebrates in mind; for all sizes of gardens.

Wildlife Gardening – working with nature

This talk is more widely about wildlife gardening, with the focus being about working with the nature in your space rather than pushing back against it.

Including: getting better acquainted with ‘weeds’, how to encourage natural enemies (for free and ecologically-sensitive biological control), and a lot of ‘easy wins’ that can help you get started with making a more nature-friendly garden.

Wildlife Gardening – while you rent

If you can’t plant a tree or dig a pond, or only have a small / paved / weird outdoor space, can you still support wildlife? Absolutely!

Thinking about easy wins, alternative options, and gardens you can pack up and move with.

“Insect Houses” – grand designs or a waste of time?

There are lots of ‘bug house’ designs out there, from DIY patterns to £100s in bespoke carpentry – but do they actually work? I’ll talk about what the different types are meant to do; whether they actually do that; and what options are worth your time. Plus some other slightly strange products purporting to help with various bugs, and if it’s all too good to be true…

Ecosystem services at the garden scale

Discussing the concept of ‘ecosystem services’ and how it applies at small green scales, with a focus on the ecological processes that invertebrates provide. Demonstrating how the beneficial side of this relationship vastly outweighs the negative, and is hugely important for maximising the ecological value of gardens; as well as improving horticultural outcomes.

Minibeast Mythbusting!

Invertebrates can be awesomely odd animals – but while some truths may indeed be stranger than fiction, myths and misconceptions are easily spread as well. This talk focuses on weird bug ‘facts’ you might have heard of, and discusses what is true, what is false, and what might be a bit of both…

(Note: I have an ever-increasing number of these, so this is several talks’ worth.)

Not-so-spooky Spiders

A spider / arachnid focused version of the Minibeast Mythbusting talk.

Including: ‘Are False Widows dangerous?’, ‘Do daddy-longlegs hide a toxic secret?’, ‘Should I be worried about bananas?’ and what Incey Wincey is doing in the bath.

The Good, The Bad, and the (B)ugly

Strange insect stories from throughout history! We’ll visit 14th Century France on the search for beetle justice; 1920’s Australia to meet a heroic moth; find out how bees were heating up the Cold War in SE Asia; and generally check in on old friends, ancient foes, and strange neighbours of the buggy kind.

An introduction to citizen / community science

‘Citizen Science’ refers to the involvement of volunteers in scientific research, and is an increasingly popular way of collecting data / engaging audiences with science – especially in ecology.

This talk will consider the importance and history of voluntary contributions to science; the modern ‘citizen science’ concept and its different approaches; the benefits of taking part, and what sorts of projects are out there now.

Citizen Science in the garden

Gardens are hugely important green spaces in towns, and are uniquely positioned as potential locations for citizen science projects.

Gardeners are already familiar with – and interested in – their gardens; can access the space at any time; and are able to set up equipment or activities easily without the risk of it being tidied away.

This talk gives an overview of some current citizen science projects that you can get involved with and discusses why gardens are such great places to ‘Do Something Weird For Science’.

Keeping the spark alive – volunteer retention in citizen science

Citizen science relies on the data returned by volunteers – thus, such projects need to maximize the chances of that happening. Clear communication, transparency about methods and objectives, and fostering a sense of ownership and community are all extremely important to keeping volunteers engaged and invested in the success of a project.

In this talk, I delve into my own experience of striking this balance, from my own PhD projects and recent work with Sussex University’s ‘Buzz Club’.