Okay so last I blogged it was warm and sunny and well it was still summer…
So what have I been up to?
Towards the end of the summer I had been out sampling the beautiful shores of Northern Ireland for just over 2 weeks. This was an amazing learning experience. A big thank you goes out to Dr. Julia Nunn from CEDaR at Ulster Museum. She is my marine mollusc guru. I cannot get over just how much she knows about marine molluscs, especially snails, and how dedicated she is to her work. She took time out of her busy schedule to take me to various shores and show me how to effectively survey and identify molluscs and did it all with enthusiasm and cheer. Yes, even at 6am low tide, there she was smiling and ready to start the day. Additionally, while I was there Roy Anderson, Julia Nunn and I went searching for the rare snail, H. acuta neglecta as part of a project I’m working on. This species was feared to be extinct in Northern Ireland until we re-discovered it this summer at St. Ann’s Point, Strangford Lough!!!
Of course I’ve had good times at the various BTCV events. In August I assisted at a beach clean in Blackness. It was the first time I had to talk about marine molluscs in front of a large group of people. That was a bit daunting! Out of nervousness I may have unknowingly used the word gastropod (what normal people would call snails) only to be blankly stared at by over a dozen people. My advice, keep it simple.
Later that week I helped out, with other BTCV staff, at the Big on the Beach event at South Beach Ardrossan. Ruth (seaweed apprentice) and I were situated in front of a large tray of various living rockpool specimens from around the area. We had the enjoyment of sharing interesting facts about these creatures to both children and adults. Ruth and I met up again for training alongside members of National Museums Scotland on how to run a “Shore Thing” survey. We are hoping to conduct a survey with the local community next summer.
After a quick trip home to Canada I was literally on the shores of Peterhead the next day and once again in the wee early hours (slightly jetlagged with the 5 hour time difference). This was a compact trip that was focused on how to conduct an official survey under tight time constraints. I learned the value of wearing a GOOD head torch when I was out in the evening attempting to sieve sand, before the tide came in, while working in complete darkness☺. What a rush! But seriously I learned much more particularly how important it is to be accurate and thorough in all your sampling specifically when time is tight and adhering to a budget. Both Christine Howson and Jon Moore of Aquatic Survey and Monitoring were more then helpful in explaining the purpose of the project, methodology, sampling and reporting. All valuable things to know!
Now that the weather has turned cold I’ve been continuing to work on my Hyrobia project. Did anyone see my article in the Scottish invertebrate news letter? Roughly, I want to attempt to link the genetic characteristic to the phenotypic characteristics of a rare snail species whose distribution records are full of errors ( funding dependent). I suppose we will see how far I get in the next few months. On this note, I have recently presented a poster at the Malacological Society forum in London. It was great to see what students and other armatures are doing in the world of molluscs, long story short everyone is hooked on DNA bar-coding.
Lastly, I have just come back after 3 weeks at National Museum Wales (NMW). Here I learned about bivalve identification and what its like to do research for a museum rather then curation. The facilities were well equipped with amazing microscopes, tons of literature and vast collections. It was an amazing experience to be around such a well educated staff that includes marine and terrestrial mollusc researchers. While there I was invited to join the museum marine staff and research students at Bangor University to conduct sampling on the ship, Prince Madog for a week. However this conflicted with the forum I was attending in London. Given the severe weather we’ve had perhaps this was for the best. I’ve been promised another chance this summer and I’m holding them to it. Training at NMW was a case of trying to learn as much as I could in an impossibly short time….so I’ve decided to go back for a few months ☺.
Melissa – Natural Talent Molluscan Apprentice