Tagged With: environment
How will environmental policy change post-Brexit?
“To protect nature, we need targets, investment and accountability, not grand promises with zero detail,” said activist lawyer and ClientEarth chief executive James Thornton to BBC News last week. He expressed his disappointment with yet another delay of the publication of a 25 year plan for England’s nature, a draft of which has been seen … Continue reading
What is dining going to look like in the future?
By Professor Les Firbank FRSB, University of Leeds. Professor Firbank is speaking on the expert panel at today’s Come Dine With The Future event, organised by the RSB and NRN-LCEE in Cardiff. We know that our meals change over time; we are now offered a range of dishes far greater than at any time in history. For tonight’s … Continue reading
Otter magic
By Pete Cooper, postgraduate student at The University of Exeter. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. Why are otters so endearing? This may seem obvious, what with their ‘cute’ charismatic appeal, prevalence in our culture from Wind in the Willows to Tarka and resemblance to … Continue reading
Decorating the dolphin: why a marine mammal deserves the crown
Opinion piece by Billy Mills – Biology Week intern at the Royal Society of Biology. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. While helping create the UK Mammal Poll, I noticed that many people seem to be unaware of the diversity of mammals that live in … Continue reading
Securing the future of Scottish Wildcats
By Vicky Burns, Scottish Wildcat Action Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for your Favourite UK Mammal. Scottish wildcats are now critically endangered. Once a common sight throughout Britain, hunting, habitat loss and, more recently, introgressive hybridisation means there are now less than 300 left in the wild. The biggest … Continue reading
Favourite UK Mammal – the ones that got away
Opinion piece by Fiona Mathews, Chair of the Mammal Society, and associate professor in mammalian biology at the University of Exeter. The poll for the Favourite UK Mammal has a shortlist of just 10 species. Yet there are about 64 land mammals (including bats) in the UK, and another 37 marine species found in our … Continue reading
Return of the native: the pine marten
By Jenny MacPherson, pine marten project manager, The Vincent Wildlife Trust. Read blogs about the other mammals in the #UKMammalPoll and vote for yourFavourite UK Mammal. My first encounter with a pine marten in the wild was back when I was a first year zoology undergraduate. I was poised upwind of a badger sett with … Continue reading
Can we give new biotech the green light?
By Gabriele Butkute, science policy assistant at the Royal Society of Biology and the Biochemical Society The human population is expected to reach nine billion by 2050. There are pressing questions about how to ensure a healthy diet for everyone while preventing overuse of natural resources or poisoning of the land, sea and air. Biotechnology … Continue reading
The macro-problem of microplastics
By Matt Turley AMRSB, NERC-funded PhD student at the University of Brighton and policy intern at the Royal Society of Biology The presence of plastics, particularly microplastics, in the environment has received increasing attention in recent years, with the UK government launching an inquiry last month (closing 15 April). Microplastics are particles of plastic smaller … Continue reading
The ‘EU effect’ on our environment
Opinion piece by Matt Turley AMRSB, NERC-funded PhD student at the University of Brighton and policy intern at the Royal Society of Biology A panel debate held this week by WWF-UK, RSPB and The Wildlife Trusts, following the release of their commissioned report by the Institute for European Environmental Policy, aimed to draw attention to … Continue reading