If you haven’t already taken part in the Nature Overheard survey, please do grab the opportunity whilst you can! And if you have – why not go out one more time before the end of October? Whether it’s the same street you surveyed before, or a new one, all the data you gather is important for the research. As we begin to explore the data collected since the survey launched in April, and devise activities like Street Safari so you can engage with the project over winter, we are excited to share a unique story from one of our participants, Matthew, who joined the team to collect data as part of a corporate volunteering initiative.
What led you to take part in Nature Overheard?
As HSEQ (Health, Safety, Environmental and Quality) Coordinator of N-ERGISE, I have input into our annual objectives and how we can continually improve our HSEQ performance. This year, as part of our environmental objectives, we focussed on Earth Day 2023; how we could improve the biodiversity of our local area and demonstrate support for environmental protection. In conjunction with funding an approved tree planting scheme within East Anglia and making urban nature improvements to our HQ, I wanted to include an objective that enabled employees to get actively involved with nature and support research. ‘Nature Overheard’ was the perfect project to assist in employee participation, actively recording nature on our doorstep whilst provide a sense of achievement in assisting wider research.
Had you done any activity like this before?
As a company we have not taken part in any biological recording previously, this was our first community science project and employee engagement was very positive. We will certainly be looking at other Natural History Museum projects to support as a company.
What did you enjoy most about taking part?
Being outside discovering the diversity of insects in our survey area which are generally overlooked. Seeing employees amazed with their finds, spotting insects which they had never seen previously, photographing and then researching what they had discovered.
Take your time, be patient and observe closely, some insects like to camouflage themselves which means they are not the easiest to spot or photograph!
