Getting in touch with nature

Recently I was thinking about how I love to live in green areas yet often don't spend enough time exploring them! So this year I have decided to find out a little more about where  I live and whats on for people to get involved in.

The BBC does it again

There is nothing better than a natural history program that is different to all the rest. A new show called Hidden Kingdoms started last week and offers exactly this,  fresh look at nature!Instead of focusing on the big animals, it focuses on the animals in animal communities that are often forgotten, like the elephant shrew and the chipmunks. The series follows  their lives and the challenges that they face for being so small. This new look at the world is not just fascinating but also educational, enabling anyone to learn about parts of nature that occur below our feet. A word of warning though, , it also shows the harsh reality of the natural world as well!

You can catch up with the series on BBC iplayer.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03qkcgs/Hidden_Kingdoms_Under_Open_Skies/

Ross Piper Talk

Last Wednesday Leeds University were lucky enough to have zoologist Ross Piper come into talk to us all about his trip to Burma which has been shown on BBC 2. The show is all about trying to find as many species as possible in the short time they were there so that they could show the Burmese Government that the land really does need protection.

Ross's talk told us all about the animals that were not shown in the series especially the wide variety of insects there. He went on to tell us how although the show makes out that the land is untouched, when he was there many of the pieces of land which were meant to be protected had already had many roads cut into to aid with deforestation of the natural habitats. Learning about a place I had never heard anything about was truly fascinating.

We got to see many brilliant camera trap photos and pictures. It really reminded me why I wanted to be a Zoologist and help animals in the first place! We got to talk about what people want to watch tv and that its a shame that one person gets to decide what everyone in the country watches.

He then gave us a small career talk. He spoke about how he did a phD, then went to do extras and then decided that he has done enough academic studies so went on to do a normal job so he had time to write his books. Now he has writen 12 books. His time is taken us doing ecological surveys, writes his books, completed the bbcs burma program and doing publicity work for his book.

It was great to find out about another Zoologists life style and what they became and how they got there.

If I got to to travel to Burma like Ross did, I would be the happiest person in the world!
As Ross says, you make your own luck and you only need to have one lucky break!