BES Facebook pageChallenges for Scotland’s Biodiversity Conservation: From the Soils to the Skies
Joint BES/BSSS/SG meeting, 8th-9th March 2012
Introduction
Taking place at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh on the 8th and 9th of March, 2012, this meeting is an exciting joint venture between the British Ecological Society, the British Society of Soil Science, and the Scottish Government’s Biodiversity Science Group.
Its main aim is to help bridge the gap between excellent ecological science and the needs of policy makers. It will focus in particular on the current revision of Scotland’s Biodiversity Strategy, providing an important forum where scientists and policymakers working on biodiversity issues in Scotland can meet, discuss areas where excellent science is needed, and explore opportunities and objectives for future work.
Who should attend?
Anyone with an interest in biodiversity science and policy in Scotland.
Members of the BES and the British Society of Soil Science can attend for free.
We particularly welcome the participation of students in this conference, and shall be awarding a prize for the best poster. Students will have an opportunity to meet researchers and policy advisers working actively on biodiversity issues in Scotland.
Aims and objectives
The meeting will:
- Introduce the science community in Scotland to the revision of Scotland’s Biodiversity Strategy;
- Explore the scale of the challenges facing the implementation of an ecosystem approach in Scotland;
- Provide an opportunity for the science community to find out about the needs of policy-makers;
- Provide an opportunity for networking between the science and policy communities.
Further information and registration
Download the programme [Adobe PDF, 371 Kb] and registration form [MS Word, 2128 Kb] for this meeting.
BY 24th FEBRUARY 2012, PLEASE RETURN THE COMPLETED REGISTRATION FORM TO:
Elizabeth Leith
PA to the Director of Science
Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh
20a Inverleith Row,
Edinburgh, EH3 5LR
e.leith@rbge.ac.uk
Registration costs:
- BES and BSSS members: Free
- Non-members: £20
- Non-members (students and senior citizens): £10
- Attendance at optional conference dinner (8th March): £28.00
Evening Lecture - 8th March
**THE EVENING LECTURE AND RECEPTION ARE FREE OF CHARGE AND ALL DELEGATES ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND**
Professor Dave Goulson, Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of Stirling, will deliver a lecture on the evening of 8th March to open the conference.
The lecture will touch on Professor Goulson's innovative work on pollinator conservation, set in the context of the conference theme: 'Challenges for Scotland's Biodiversity: From the Soils to the Skies'.
About Professor Goulson
Professor Goulson is well-known for his work on pollinators and until the end of 2011, served as Director of the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. Professor Goulson's interests span biodiversity conservation (particularly on bumblebees), the use of molecular techniques to answering ecological questions and citizen science; the involvement of large numbers of members of the public in ecology and in science more generally.
Professor Goulson's current projects include:
- The conservation, ecology and population genetics of bumblebees;
- The use of molecular tools to evaluate population structure in declining invertebrates (bumblebees and butterflies);
- Examining the cost-effectiveness of strategies to boost pollinator populations in farmed areas;
- The impact of introduced bee species on native fauna, including in Scotland;
- Reintroducing the short-haired bumblebee (Bombus subterraneus) to the UK, where it has become extinct, from New Zealand, to where it was introduced from Britain;
- The management, restoration and recreation of species-rich grassland, with field experiments in the Western Isles of Scotland and in western France.
