Coronavirus: information on BES activities in 2021

The Society continues to be guided by the latest UK government advice in forming its responses to coronavirus. Our primary concern is the health and wellbeing of our staff, members and all those involved in our activities.

Our office

The British Ecological Society (BES) office in London is closed to visitors and most staff continue to work remotely. The simplest way to get hold of members of our staff team is by email.

Events

Our event listings have details of all the events that are currently open and how to book your place.

Our 19 Special Interest Groups organised some incredible online events throughout 2021.

For our applied ecologist and practitioner audience, our AER live series of free, interactive, online workshops covered a range of useful topics for applied ecologists and practitioners.

The British Ecological Society (BES) and the French Society for Ecology and Evolution (SFE²) held a joint Annual Meeting, Ecology Across Borders, from 12 – 15 December 2021. We welcomed delegates back to an in-person meeting in Liverpool with appropriate measures are in place so that the ecological community could gather safely. A virtual pass enabled many other delegates to join online to view headline sessions live, share their research, watch content on demand and interact with other delegates.

Grants

2020 grant holders

If you’re a grant holder who was awarded funding in 2020 but have yet to claim your award, we have extended the grant conditions to allow for funding to be claimed up to 12 months after the award date. This has been increased from the standard six months.

2020/2021 grant holders

If you have already received your award and there are delays in the project due to COVID-19, we will continue to take a pragmatic approach to requests for extensions as long as the project itself is not changed. Contact: grants@britishecologicalsociety.org

Travel grants

Applicants can use our travel grants to attend a virtual conference/course and cover registration fees up to £250. In these circumstances, the applicant must provide proof of registration on acceptance, and meet the standard eligibility criteria. If you are unsure whether your event meets the criteria, or for any other grant-related queries, please contact: grants@britishecologicalsociety.org

As part of the conditions of the award, you must inform us immediately if the event you are planning on attending is moved to online only or cancelled. We will do our level best to make sure you’re able to use your grant wherever possible to benefit your science and your career.

Journals

We continue to focus on the high-quality service and short turnaround times expected of the BES journals.

We recognise that many authors, reviewers and members of our editorial boards will be facing challenging circumstances and will need more time to return revisions, reviews and recommendations. Therefore, we’re continuing as normal but encourage you to contact your journal’s editorial office if you need any additional time or assistance.

Editorial office contacts

• Ecological Solutions and Evidence editorial@ecologicalsolutionsandevidence.org
• Functional Ecology admin@functionalecology.org
• Journal of Animal Ecology admin@journalofanimalecology.org
• Journal of Applied Ecology admin@journalofappliedecology.org
• Journal of Ecology admin@journalofecology.org
• Methods in Ecology and Evolution coordinator@methodsinecologyandevolution.org
• People and Nature editorial@people-and-nature.org

Helpful resources

Online teaching

Staff at universities have been asked an extraordinary amount throughout the pandemic in revising lectures and courses for online teaching.

A set of 15 top tips on online teaching from lecturers at the Open University produced during the first wave of the pandemic is still useful. Julia Cooke, Phil Wheeler and Sarah Davies have a wealth of experience in online distance education, and their advice is worth its weight in gold.

Science communication and engagement training

If you’re a BES member, visit our Training Hub to develop your science communication and public engagement skills at home. From website building to podcast production, there is something for everyone in our diverse range of new webinars and resources.

Home schooling resources

We’ve drawn up a list of free resources that can support parents and teachers in teaching ecological sciences during the pandemic.

The resources provide students at different key stages the opportunity to continue their learning during home-schooling.