waiting for swifts
the grey sky dances
with blossom petals
*
dusk
a young rabbit eats
fallen blossoms
Monday, 30 April 2012
Sunday, 29 April 2012
Calling all jewellery makers!
Today I added this Jewellery Inspiration Kit to the shop. It's full of goodies (including some not shown in the photo above!) to help you create lovely jewellery or to use in other creative projects.
Saturday, 28 April 2012
Trees and Art at the Botanics
Crafty Green Boyfriend and I had a lovely day at the Edinburgh Botanic Gardens today.
Although some of the azaleas and rhododendrons are already past their best, some are in full bloom and some are still on the way. We're always impressed by how much lichen grows on some of these shrubs.
Lovely to see cherry blossoms at their best too.
It was a lovely sunny day (though quite chilly) so there were lots of shadows about to take photos of for Shadow Shot Sunday.
We also popped in to the Locating the Nest exhibition, which features artwork inspired by nests - prints from Hugh Bryden, word art from Tom Pow and basketwork from Lizzie Farey.
Although some of the azaleas and rhododendrons are already past their best, some are in full bloom and some are still on the way. We're always impressed by how much lichen grows on some of these shrubs.
Lovely to see cherry blossoms at their best too.
It was a lovely sunny day (though quite chilly) so there were lots of shadows about to take photos of for Shadow Shot Sunday.
We also popped in to the Locating the Nest exhibition, which features artwork inspired by nests - prints from Hugh Bryden, word art from Tom Pow and basketwork from Lizzie Farey.
Thursday, 26 April 2012
Out of Eden by Alan Burdick
What happens when a species native to one part of the world is introduced to another part of the world? Of course sometimes, the species finds its new home to be perfect and has no predators or diseases to keep it in check and takes over to the detriment of local wildlife. Sometimes the new species just slots in nicely in the new environment, kept in check by predators that welcome its presence. Sometimes the new species can't adapt to its new environment and doesn't set up there.
Out of Eden is a fascinating account of ecological invasions across the world, concentrating on remote islands and marine life. We are shown the devastation caused by the brown tree snake on Guam, which has caused the extinction or near extinction of several species of birds on that island. We are given a tour of Hawai'i outlining the effects of introduced species on the wildlife of those islands. We're shown how ships become floating homes for species that then find it easy to invade coastal waters far away from where they originated (and the steps that are now being taken to minimise this happening).
Throughout the book Burdick stresses the complicated nature of the biology of invasions, how the relationships between prey and predator are not simple and examining some of the factors that bear on the successor otherwise of a new species in a new ecosystem. He talks to and works with scientists around the world who are studying biological invasions, investigating how long invasions have been happening and what their effects are and whether we can control them.
The result is fascinating (though the book may be a little too academic if you don't have a background in biology or ecology) and well worth reading if you're interested in the state of wildlife.
Out of Eden by Alan Burdick published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux
You can read my latest post about Green Books over on Brighton Blogger's Book after Book blog.
You can read my latest post about Green Books over on Brighton Blogger's Book after Book blog.
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Etsy
The shop will ultimately focus on crafting supplies, but there will be some items handmade from re-purposed and up-cycled materials and the occasional vintage item. So far, to give a flavour of the range, I've listed: a vintage African print dress; some vintage floral fabric; a beautiful piece of sea glass ideal for making into a pendant and a handmade chopstick bag. You can see them all if you visit the shop!
I'll be slowly adding more items to the shop over the next week or so, so do pop over very so often to see what's new!
The workbook from the Etsy Success Symposium should help me work out how to succeed in the tricky Etsy marketplace!
Tuesday, 24 April 2012
Spring leaves
Beautiful along the Water of Leith today in Colinton Dell. The weather was very changeable and it rained a fair bit but that didn't stop the birds! Blackcaps, blackbirds, wrens, chaffinches, and song thrushes were the most tuneful of the singers along with more willow warblers than usual in the area and I think I also heard a whitethroat.
I was captivated by the unfolding leaves on this horse chestnut tree.
And delighted to capture both the male (brown) and female (green, under the leaf) catkins of the hornbeam. Later in the year the female catkin develops into a wonderful chandelier, which you can see in a photo in this post.
You can see a photo of sycamore leaves unfurling from a couple of weeks ago here.
Oh and here's some wild garlic (also known as ramsons) not to be confused with few flowered leek which you can see in this post here.
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you find out more. Plus the hyperlinks for the birds will give you the option to listen to their song!
For Nature Notes.
I was captivated by the unfolding leaves on this horse chestnut tree.
And delighted to capture both the male (brown) and female (green, under the leaf) catkins of the hornbeam. Later in the year the female catkin develops into a wonderful chandelier, which you can see in a photo in this post.
Oh and here's some wild garlic (also known as ramsons) not to be confused with few flowered leek which you can see in this post here.
For Nature Notes.
Monday, 23 April 2012
Monday Bunday with Charles Dickens
So the rabbits with their self-betraying tails, frisking in and out of holes at roots of trees, may be lively with ideas of breezy days when their ears are blown about or of those seasons of interest when there are sweet young plants to gnaw.
from Bleak House by Charles Dickens
Millions of rabbits in the EU are kept in appalling conditions, in tiny cages. Please consider signing this petition to stop cruel rabbit farming in the EU.(You probably need to be a resident of an EU country to be able to sign this).
Millions of rabbits in the EU are kept in appalling conditions, in tiny cages. Please consider signing this petition to stop cruel rabbit farming in the EU.(You probably need to be a resident of an EU country to be able to sign this).
Sunday, 22 April 2012
Re:See It
The Art's Complex had an open day today, so I went along to see how this ugly old office block has been transformed into a magical and vibrant arts community space.
I really wanted to visit Katherine Sola's studio (Katherine is the wife of Howard of Belvedere Mountain Express with whom I've collaborated on musical versions of some of my poetry).Katherine has a lovely wee studio with views over Arthur's Seat and full of ceramics and mixed media art (including ceramic rabbits!) - a much greater variety than is shown on her website!
I also wanted to see the Re:See It exhibition of recycled visual art and craft. It is definitely worth going along to, there's a wonderful range of work, including 'stained glass windows' made from sea glass and found materials and a wonderful hanging mobile made from recycled plastic milk bottles. I didn't take notes of who the artists were (though many of them are based in the Art's Complex and can be found via links on the website). The exhibition is organised by the Art's Complex Green Team and runs until Friday 28 April. So if you get the chance, pop along and enjoy!
I really wanted to visit Katherine Sola's studio (Katherine is the wife of Howard of Belvedere Mountain Express with whom I've collaborated on musical versions of some of my poetry).Katherine has a lovely wee studio with views over Arthur's Seat and full of ceramics and mixed media art (including ceramic rabbits!) - a much greater variety than is shown on her website!
I also wanted to see the Re:See It exhibition of recycled visual art and craft. It is definitely worth going along to, there's a wonderful range of work, including 'stained glass windows' made from sea glass and found materials and a wonderful hanging mobile made from recycled plastic milk bottles. I didn't take notes of who the artists were (though many of them are based in the Art's Complex and can be found via links on the website). The exhibition is organised by the Art's Complex Green Team and runs until Friday 28 April. So if you get the chance, pop along and enjoy!
Friday, 20 April 2012
Thursday, 19 April 2012
The Island President
The Island President is by turn inspiring and depressing. The film follows President Mohamed Nasheen of the Maldives from his early successful fight to bring democracy to his island nation and then his perhaps less successful fight to bring an end to climate change.
The Republic of Maldives is an island nation so low lying (it lies on average 1.5 m above sea level and has no high ground to speak of) that it stands to disappear from the face of the earth if the sea level rises much above current levels. In fact the coast is eroding already and the nation has to cut back on education and health to pay for sea walls and other preventative measures.
Maldives with its atoll islands, turquoise seas and coral reefs is well known as a tourist paradise for the very wealthy, many of whom describe it as 'paradise crossed with paradise'. It is also home to around 350 000 people who stand to become climate change refugees if nothing is done to save their country.
Understanding all this, their president became a high profile campaigner on the issue of climate change. He addressed international conferences and pushed for an agreement at the 2009 Copenhagen talks on climate change, an agreement that wasn't binding but that could have been seen as better than nothing except that in the following year, carbon emissions increased rather than decreasing. Nasheed also demonstrated an ability to capture media attention by such events as holding a cabinet meeting underwater. He also pledged that his country would become the first carbon neutral state in the world and in this film can be seen fitting solar panels to a roof.
The film gets access to high level meetings within the Maldives and at the international conferences including the UN. Nasheem and his allies made heroic efforts but the viewer is to left with a sense of futility about these meetings. So many people flown on so many long haul flights to talk for so many hours to produce an agreement that isn't even binding.
Nasheem ultimately didn't succeed long term in his campaign for democracy in the Maldives. He was ousted 16 January 2012 and the military have taken over again. Admittedly Nasheem's government wasn't perfect (there have been claims of corruption and the state showed itself to be unable to pull the country out of the economic downturn that followed the 2004 tsunami (which destroyed much of the nation) ) and the government was severely constrained by opposition politicians. Even so, it is sobering that the country that stands to lose everything if climate change continues couldn't hang on to a leader with the imagination and commitment to at least do his best to solve the issue.
Dates of Screenings of The Island President in the UK.
Dates of Screenings of The Island President in other countries (scroll down)
Updates from Democracy Maldives.
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
The Republic of Maldives is an island nation so low lying (it lies on average 1.5 m above sea level and has no high ground to speak of) that it stands to disappear from the face of the earth if the sea level rises much above current levels. In fact the coast is eroding already and the nation has to cut back on education and health to pay for sea walls and other preventative measures.
Maldives with its atoll islands, turquoise seas and coral reefs is well known as a tourist paradise for the very wealthy, many of whom describe it as 'paradise crossed with paradise'. It is also home to around 350 000 people who stand to become climate change refugees if nothing is done to save their country.
Understanding all this, their president became a high profile campaigner on the issue of climate change. He addressed international conferences and pushed for an agreement at the 2009 Copenhagen talks on climate change, an agreement that wasn't binding but that could have been seen as better than nothing except that in the following year, carbon emissions increased rather than decreasing. Nasheed also demonstrated an ability to capture media attention by such events as holding a cabinet meeting underwater. He also pledged that his country would become the first carbon neutral state in the world and in this film can be seen fitting solar panels to a roof.
The film gets access to high level meetings within the Maldives and at the international conferences including the UN. Nasheem and his allies made heroic efforts but the viewer is to left with a sense of futility about these meetings. So many people flown on so many long haul flights to talk for so many hours to produce an agreement that isn't even binding.
Nasheem ultimately didn't succeed long term in his campaign for democracy in the Maldives. He was ousted 16 January 2012 and the military have taken over again. Admittedly Nasheem's government wasn't perfect (there have been claims of corruption and the state showed itself to be unable to pull the country out of the economic downturn that followed the 2004 tsunami (which destroyed much of the nation) ) and the government was severely constrained by opposition politicians. Even so, it is sobering that the country that stands to lose everything if climate change continues couldn't hang on to a leader with the imagination and commitment to at least do his best to solve the issue.
Dates of Screenings of The Island President in the UK.
Dates of Screenings of The Island President in other countries (scroll down)
Updates from Democracy Maldives.
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
Wednesday, 18 April 2012
Edinburgh International Science Festival
The festival is now over for another year! I've been delighted to have been given free tickets by Clicket and the Edinburgh International Science Festival themselves and the opportunity to blog about the events! You can read my blog posts
on this blog: Climate Change at Edinburgh International Science Festival : Citizen Science : Cape Farewell and Sadhana Dance : Catalytic Clothes and Invisible Worlds : Away with the Birds : Food for Thought : Edinburgh Enlightenment Exchange
on Over Forty Shades: DJ Physics : Emotion in Motion
on my website: Edinburgh Enlightenment Exchange - Communicating Science
and weekly summaries on the Clicket blog here, here and here.
It's been fun to blog along with: Carrie of Goodbye Magpie : Colin of Radio Cartoonist : Kate of Blur of Woodsmoke and, though I didn't get to meet them: Claire of Crabbit Copy : David of Dundee Physics : Julie Ann of Super Mummy
Today I posted over on my new website about Information Systems for Conservation, a post that originally appeared at the now rarely updated Information Officer Support Group blog and which ties in nicely with the post about Citizen Science.
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more!
on this blog: Climate Change at Edinburgh International Science Festival : Citizen Science : Cape Farewell and Sadhana Dance : Catalytic Clothes and Invisible Worlds : Away with the Birds : Food for Thought : Edinburgh Enlightenment Exchange
on Over Forty Shades: DJ Physics : Emotion in Motion
on my website: Edinburgh Enlightenment Exchange - Communicating Science
and weekly summaries on the Clicket blog here, here and here.
It's been fun to blog along with: Carrie of Goodbye Magpie : Colin of Radio Cartoonist : Kate of Blur of Woodsmoke and, though I didn't get to meet them: Claire of Crabbit Copy : David of Dundee Physics : Julie Ann of Super Mummy
Today I posted over on my new website about Information Systems for Conservation, a post that originally appeared at the now rarely updated Information Officer Support Group blog and which ties in nicely with the post about Citizen Science.
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more!
Tuesday, 17 April 2012
Gorgie Farm
This afternoon I ran a creative writing workshop at Gorgie City Farm. I had got up this morning and looked out the window with a bit of a sinking heart to see all the grey clouds, but by this afternoon it was beautifully sunny which meant we could have a lovely wander round the farm before starting to write. The farm pond was full of frogs sitting motionless in the water. The bunnies were all in their shed, which meant we only got a glimpse of Driftwood and didn't see any of the others. Red the horse was wandering round the field, totally unconcerned about the jackdaws on his back.
The workshop participants wrote some lovely pieces and enjoyed visiting the farm. I made some notes for writing a piece about house sparrows, after watching these birds in the farm hedges!
Then I bought some fruit and veg at the farm's lovely produce stall.
The workshop participants wrote some lovely pieces and enjoyed visiting the farm. I made some notes for writing a piece about house sparrows, after watching these birds in the farm hedges!
Then I bought some fruit and veg at the farm's lovely produce stall.
Monday, 16 April 2012
Greening the UK local elections
In the UK, we are going to the polls on 3 May to vote for councillors in our local councils and in London they will be electing a new mayor. So everyone is gearing up for electioneering.
For me the major issue in any election is the environment, specifically the attention paid to the natural environment and wildlife. Lots of environmental charities are campaigning to get prospective local politicians interested in environmental issues. The Woodland Trust. for example, are busy putting out lots of useful information about woodlands and trees in advance of the elections, you can read about their campaign for the London mayoral election on their Woodland Matters blog. However, in some of their campaign literature they admit that nature isn't being seen as a priority by any of the candidates in the London Mayoral elections. It's a sad truth that in difficult economic times, the environment is given even less of a priority than it usually is.
In Edinburgh, it's very heartening to see Scottish Green Party candidate Gavin Corbett actively involved in the Save Craighouse campaign. You can read my first reactions to the proposed developments on this beautiful historic site and woodlands here and my perhaps overly optimistic reactions to seeing the developers' exhibition here and read Gavin's post on the Friends of Craighouse blog. He asks some excellent probing questions of the type that our elected representatives should be asking (never mind those seeking election). We need more politicians to engage with the environment in this way. (To be fair, it seems that all the local council candidates are opposed to the proposed developments at Craighouse).
So as you go to the polls, think about what the candidates are saying about the environment and if you get a chance to speak to them, ask them directly about their views on the issues. The more people ask them about the environment, the more they'll realise that it's a topic they need to address!
For me the major issue in any election is the environment, specifically the attention paid to the natural environment and wildlife. Lots of environmental charities are campaigning to get prospective local politicians interested in environmental issues. The Woodland Trust. for example, are busy putting out lots of useful information about woodlands and trees in advance of the elections, you can read about their campaign for the London mayoral election on their Woodland Matters blog. However, in some of their campaign literature they admit that nature isn't being seen as a priority by any of the candidates in the London Mayoral elections. It's a sad truth that in difficult economic times, the environment is given even less of a priority than it usually is.
In Edinburgh, it's very heartening to see Scottish Green Party candidate Gavin Corbett actively involved in the Save Craighouse campaign. You can read my first reactions to the proposed developments on this beautiful historic site and woodlands here and my perhaps overly optimistic reactions to seeing the developers' exhibition here and read Gavin's post on the Friends of Craighouse blog. He asks some excellent probing questions of the type that our elected representatives should be asking (never mind those seeking election). We need more politicians to engage with the environment in this way. (To be fair, it seems that all the local council candidates are opposed to the proposed developments at Craighouse).
So as you go to the polls, think about what the candidates are saying about the environment and if you get a chance to speak to them, ask them directly about their views on the issues. The more people ask them about the environment, the more they'll realise that it's a topic they need to address!
Sunday, 15 April 2012
Read me while you can at 24 Project
I'm delighted to have a poem at the 24project, a wonderful 'pop-up' literary magazine. It's being edited today (starting from midnight last night until midnight tonight) and will be online for one week only after that. There's a wonderful selection of poetry, fiction and photos on there already and you can see my poem here.
As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other websites where you can find out more
As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other websites where you can find out more
Dalkeith Country Park and Oak Woodland
Yesterday we visited the wonderful ancient oak woodland at Dalkeith Country Park. This is a beautiful, atmospheric place. You can really feel the age of things. Most of the oak trees are truly ancient and many of them are partially collapsing, making wonderful homes for invertebrates and wonderful subjects for photos!
There were a lot of spring flowers to see, though the bluebells weren't yet quite at their best (Next week perhaps?).
For Nature Notes
Saturday, 14 April 2012
Climate Change at Edinburgh International Science Festival
I've been blogging from the Edinburgh International Science Festival over the past two weeks, some posts have appeared on this blog, some on Over Forty Shades (here and here) and some on the Clicket blog.
Yesterday, I attended the last event that Clicket gave me free tickets for. This was Richard Wiseman's Beginners Guide to Climate Change. Richard played the part of a complete beginner on the topic as he interviewed Stuart Hazeldine, Professor of Carbon Capture and Storage at the University of Edinburgh. The discussion started by looking at how the climate has changed in geologic time (ie over millions of years) and then moved on to discussing how human influences are massively accelerating the current natural warming of the climate. There was a lot of discussion about how we can reduce the human portion of this climate change and it has to be said that it wasn't particularly optimistic. I was impressed though by the emphasis put on energy efficiency as this seems often to be overlooked in the rush toward technological fixes.
The day before, Stuart Hazeldine had been one of the panel in the Fixing the Planet discussions at the festival. This event was very interesting, bringing up lots of ideas for how we can solve the current climate crisis. I did feel though that having five people on the panel meant that there were more ideas there than there was time to explore them. Topics that came up included:
wave power,
bio-char,
eco-villages where all homes are built to very high standards of low carbon emissions,
emissions taxes,
carbon pricing
It was pointed out that the UK and Scotland lead the industrial revolution and so perhaps have a particular moral obligation to lead the fight against climate change. Scotland in fact looks on target to effectively produce 100% of our power requirements from renewable energy sources by 2020.
Scotland has an advantage by the way in climate terms, because we are surrounded by sea and also benefit from the Gulf Stream (or at least until climate change knocks it out of place) so that our climate is generally milder than you might expect from a country so far north. We have earlier Springs than many other places at a similar latitude, so if you're one of the people from across the ocean wondering at our early spring, that explains part of it, though climate change has been making our springs earlier over the past decade or so and this year's spring has been particularly early.
As ever red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
Yesterday, I attended the last event that Clicket gave me free tickets for. This was Richard Wiseman's Beginners Guide to Climate Change. Richard played the part of a complete beginner on the topic as he interviewed Stuart Hazeldine, Professor of Carbon Capture and Storage at the University of Edinburgh. The discussion started by looking at how the climate has changed in geologic time (ie over millions of years) and then moved on to discussing how human influences are massively accelerating the current natural warming of the climate. There was a lot of discussion about how we can reduce the human portion of this climate change and it has to be said that it wasn't particularly optimistic. I was impressed though by the emphasis put on energy efficiency as this seems often to be overlooked in the rush toward technological fixes.
The day before, Stuart Hazeldine had been one of the panel in the Fixing the Planet discussions at the festival. This event was very interesting, bringing up lots of ideas for how we can solve the current climate crisis. I did feel though that having five people on the panel meant that there were more ideas there than there was time to explore them. Topics that came up included:
wave power,
bio-char,
eco-villages where all homes are built to very high standards of low carbon emissions,
emissions taxes,
carbon pricing
It was pointed out that the UK and Scotland lead the industrial revolution and so perhaps have a particular moral obligation to lead the fight against climate change. Scotland in fact looks on target to effectively produce 100% of our power requirements from renewable energy sources by 2020.
Scotland has an advantage by the way in climate terms, because we are surrounded by sea and also benefit from the Gulf Stream (or at least until climate change knocks it out of place) so that our climate is generally milder than you might expect from a country so far north. We have earlier Springs than many other places at a similar latitude, so if you're one of the people from across the ocean wondering at our early spring, that explains part of it, though climate change has been making our springs earlier over the past decade or so and this year's spring has been particularly early.
As ever red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
Friday, 13 April 2012
Giveaway Winner and an Announcement
I ran a giveaway recently and today I put the names in a hat and the lucky winner is:
Rabbits' Guy who wanted the tan pencil case. So Rabbit's Guy, let me know your address and I'll put the pencil case in the post to you!
And I have a craft related announcement to make. After a lot of consideration (and thanks for everyone who commented on this post) I have decided to set up on Etsy. My shop will focus on environmentally friendly crafting supplies with occasional handmade items and occasional vintage finds. Of course the shop may evolve over time. I'll keep you up to date here!
Rabbits' Guy who wanted the tan pencil case. So Rabbit's Guy, let me know your address and I'll put the pencil case in the post to you!
And I have a craft related announcement to make. After a lot of consideration (and thanks for everyone who commented on this post) I have decided to set up on Etsy. My shop will focus on environmentally friendly crafting supplies with occasional handmade items and occasional vintage finds. Of course the shop may evolve over time. I'll keep you up to date here!
Wednesday, 11 April 2012
The Rain in the Trees by W S Merwin
I first came across W S Merwin's poetry in Earth Shattering an anthology of environmental poetry edited by Neil Astley, which I reviewed here. So I was interested to read a full collection by this poet who has been described as a master of modern poetry.
W S Merwin is a poet who is closely connected to nature and many of the poems in this collection reflect that connection. He has a gift for arresting phrases: 'the sea remembering all of its waves' from Coming to the Morning and 'white gulls riding a knowledge older than they are' from The Salt Pond.
The poems in The Rain in the Trees mostly deal with loss -the loss of nature; the loss of a relationship, the loss of indigenous language and the insights that gave into landscape.
everything begins so late after all
when the solitaires have already goneand the doves of Tanna
when the Laughing Owls have
long been followed by question marks
and honeycreepers and the brown
bears of Atlas
the white wolf and the sea mink have not been seen
by anyone livingfrom Before Us
Merwin's soft spoken insights mourn a world where too much loss is being taken for granted. He does offer hope though too:
I saw the duck catching
the colors of fire
as she moved over the bright glass
and I glided after
until she dove
and I followed in the white canoe
and look what I find
long afterwards
the world of the living
from The Duck
This is wonderful moving poetry, worth reading over and over, both for the beauty of the writing and for the connection with nature that is embedded in it.
The Rain in the Trees by W S Merwin, published by Alfred A Knopf
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Craigmillar Castle
Yesterday we had decided to go to Dalkeith Country Park to enjoy the Easter bluebells. Unfortunately though the buses weren't going to Dalkeith and rather than get off early and somehow work out how to get to Dalkeith, we got off even earlier and wandered through Craigmillar Castle grounds. It's a lovely area for a wander (though very litter strewn unfortunately). The weather stayed nice and lots of birds were singing (including the first blackcaps I've heard this year) so it was a very pleasant way to spend the Easter Bank Holiday.
Nice to see this patch of pink bluebells! These are a hybrid (Hyacinthoides x massartiana) - the product of cross-breeding between the native British bluebell (Hyacinthoides non-scripta) and the Spanish variety (Hyacinthoides hispanica). Read an interesting article about British bluebells on the BBC website.
Today I finally got round to posting a description of Colinton Dell, Water of Leith to the Walk Highlands website. Click on the link to read it!
For Nature Notes.
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
For Nature Notes.
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
Sunday, 8 April 2012
Saturday, 7 April 2012
Citizen Science
As many readers will remember, I recently attended the Edinburgh Enlightenment Exchange at the Edinburgh International Science Festival. One of the speakers was Chris Lintock of Zooniverse, a citizen science project that uses amateur enthusiasts to classify galaxies. The talk underlined the importance of giving people the right tools to enable them to take part in their chosen citizen science project.
Another citizen science project that is part of Zooniverse, though very different in its focus, is Old Weather. This is a fascinating project that looks at old weather records from Royal Navy ships to put together a picture of past weather patterns. These then give scientists a better understanding of how weather and climate work and hopefully give insight into climate change.
There are lots of citizen science projects out there! It will be no suprise that I'm involved in a number of natural history based citizen science projects:
I record my bird observations on Birdtrack, operated by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) which studies the migratory movements and distribution of all birds in the UK.
I send all my records of wildlife seen in Edinburgh and the Lothians to the Lothian Wildlife Information Centre, who use that information in assessing planning applications as well as in building a general picture of the state of local wildlife. If you're in Scotland you can find out your local wildlife record centre by contact BRISC (Biological Records in Scotland Campaign).
I also send my records of wildlife along the Water of Leith to the Water of Leith Conservation Trust. This information is used to mitigate the effects of developments such as the current flood prevention works.
I'm sure there are many other examples out there! I think citizen science enables people to use their knowledge and skills in a useful way to help research and conservation. So if you have scientific interests, why not get involved with a project!
You may also be interested in my post on my website about information systems for conservation work.
Disclaimer: I was given a press ticket for the Edinburgh Enlightenment Exchange
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
Another citizen science project that is part of Zooniverse, though very different in its focus, is Old Weather. This is a fascinating project that looks at old weather records from Royal Navy ships to put together a picture of past weather patterns. These then give scientists a better understanding of how weather and climate work and hopefully give insight into climate change.
There are lots of citizen science projects out there! It will be no suprise that I'm involved in a number of natural history based citizen science projects:
I record my bird observations on Birdtrack, operated by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) which studies the migratory movements and distribution of all birds in the UK.
I send all my records of wildlife seen in Edinburgh and the Lothians to the Lothian Wildlife Information Centre, who use that information in assessing planning applications as well as in building a general picture of the state of local wildlife. If you're in Scotland you can find out your local wildlife record centre by contact BRISC (Biological Records in Scotland Campaign).
I also send my records of wildlife along the Water of Leith to the Water of Leith Conservation Trust. This information is used to mitigate the effects of developments such as the current flood prevention works.
I'm sure there are many other examples out there! I think citizen science enables people to use their knowledge and skills in a useful way to help research and conservation. So if you have scientific interests, why not get involved with a project!
You may also be interested in my post on my website about information systems for conservation work.
Disclaimer: I was given a press ticket for the Edinburgh Enlightenment Exchange
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
Friday, 6 April 2012
haiku about sparrows
school playground -
house sparrows chatter
in the hedges
previously published in Haiku Scotland
There's still time to enter the first International Kukai - a contest for haiku. The theme is sparrows. Enter unpublished haiku - details here.
house sparrows chatter
in the hedges
previously published in Haiku Scotland
There's still time to enter the first International Kukai - a contest for haiku. The theme is sparrows. Enter unpublished haiku - details here.
Thursday, 5 April 2012
Cape Farewell and Sadhana Dance
At the Edinburgh International Film Festival last year I watched the inspiring Cape Farewell film Burning Ice, which I reviewed here. At the recent Edinburgh Enlightenment Exchange, Subathra Subramanium talked more about Cape Farewell and I thought I'd do a summary here.
Cape Farewell offers a vital cultural response to climate change by organising voyages to the arctic for artists, scientists and young people to work and learn together. The scientists carry out real science researching the effects of climate change, the artists make pieces of work responding to the landscape, the science and their experiences which they then share with audiences across the world, the young people take part in the science, create their own works of art and when they return home they communicate their experiences to their schools and to other local schools. This is an inspiring and engaging way of getting the message about climate change out to a wide audience.
Subathra also is the artistic director of dance company Sadhana. Their latest project Elixir, an evening of dance, visual art and conversation, explores the vital issue of clean water. This is on tour in the UK until the end of May.
Disclaimer: I was given a press ticket for the Edinburgh Enlightenment Exchange
As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
Cape Farewell offers a vital cultural response to climate change by organising voyages to the arctic for artists, scientists and young people to work and learn together. The scientists carry out real science researching the effects of climate change, the artists make pieces of work responding to the landscape, the science and their experiences which they then share with audiences across the world, the young people take part in the science, create their own works of art and when they return home they communicate their experiences to their schools and to other local schools. This is an inspiring and engaging way of getting the message about climate change out to a wide audience.
Subathra also is the artistic director of dance company Sadhana. Their latest project Elixir, an evening of dance, visual art and conversation, explores the vital issue of clean water. This is on tour in the UK until the end of May.
Disclaimer: I was given a press ticket for the Edinburgh Enlightenment Exchange
As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
Wednesday, 4 April 2012
Catalytic Clothes and Invisible Worlds
Today's event at the Edinburgh International Science Festival was Catalytic Clothing. Professor Helen Storey who is an artist and fashion designer at the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion has worked with polymer chemist Professor Tony Ryan to produce catalytic clothing and clothes conditioners. The idea being that wearing these clothes, or ordinary clothes treated with these conditioners, one can catalyse pollutants into harmless chemicals. The idea is very much still in the early stages and so far has only been rigorously tested with nitric oxide which produces nitrates as an end result. These nitrates then wash out of the clothes and into the water supply, which could be a problem (that being one of the issues still being studied and nitrate run-off from agricultural land being a major issue). There was excellent audience discussion facilitated by Professor John Shephard, which centred on issues such as the need to reduce pollution in the first place and the potential side effects of the clothing. I was very impressed by the openness of Professors Helen Story and Tony Ryan in taking their ideas into the world for discussion at this early stage. Not only is this project a very good example of art and science working together, but also a very good example of open research. Whether it will prove to be a genuine environmental solution remains to be seen, but as a concept it is certainly very exciting!
Earlier in the day I had visited the small exhibition of catalytic jeans and kilts in St Andrews Square.
Luckily by this time the sleet, snow and hail had stopped (although it was still very cold) so I was able to enjoy the wonderful Invisible Worlds exhibition, which includes incredibly beautiful images of microscopic nature and immense galaxies. I'd passed it on the bus several times, but it is definitely worth getting off the bus and having a really good look.
Earlier in the day I had visited the small exhibition of catalytic jeans and kilts in St Andrews Square.
Luckily by this time the sleet, snow and hail had stopped (although it was still very cold) so I was able to enjoy the wonderful Invisible Worlds exhibition, which includes incredibly beautiful images of microscopic nature and immense galaxies. I'd passed it on the bus several times, but it is definitely worth getting off the bus and having a really good look.
Disclaimer - Clicket gave me a free ticket for the Catalytic Clothes event.
As ever, text in red contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Away with the Birds
I attended the Edinburgh Enlightenment Exchange at the Edinburgh International Science Festival on Saturday. You can read my blog post about the event here and also on Clicket here.
I found out about loads of interesting projects at the event and thought I would share some of those over the next couple of weeks on this blog and over on my website.
I enjoyed the presentation from Suzy Glass about the need to allow ourselves to fail and to learn from that failure. I was also very interested in her work with Trigger, a Glasgow based arts organisation, particularly in the work in progress Air falbh leis na h-eòin (Away with the Birds in Gaelic). We heard an extract from this vocal piece at the Enlightenment Exchange. It builds on the relationship that the Scottish Gaelic tradition has with birds, particularly the way that Gaelic folk songs imitate birdsong to evoke the landscape. The piece recombines archive songs and rhymes into a new composition and will become a site-specific performance for a small Hebridean island.
The project is conceived by artist Hanna Tuulikki , created by an interdisciplinary team and produced by Trigger in association with Cape Farewell as part of Sea Change a programme of research and creativity across Scotland’s islands.
Air falbh leis na h-eòin was premiered at the New Music Scotland Showcase in October 2011. Since then it has been performed a number of times and no doubt there will be many other performances in the future.
As ever, red text in this post contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more
I found out about loads of interesting projects at the event and thought I would share some of those over the next couple of weeks on this blog and over on my website.
I enjoyed the presentation from Suzy Glass about the need to allow ourselves to fail and to learn from that failure. I was also very interested in her work with Trigger, a Glasgow based arts organisation, particularly in the work in progress Air falbh leis na h-eòin (Away with the Birds in Gaelic). We heard an extract from this vocal piece at the Enlightenment Exchange. It builds on the relationship that the Scottish Gaelic tradition has with birds, particularly the way that Gaelic folk songs imitate birdsong to evoke the landscape. The piece recombines archive songs and rhymes into a new composition and will become a site-specific performance for a small Hebridean island.
The project is conceived by artist Hanna Tuulikki , created by an interdisciplinary team and produced by Trigger in association with Cape Farewell as part of Sea Change a programme of research and creativity across Scotland’s islands.
Air falbh leis na h-eòin was premiered at the New Music Scotland Showcase in October 2011. Since then it has been performed a number of times and no doubt there will be many other performances in the future.
As ever, red text in this post contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more
Monday, 2 April 2012
Food for Thought!
I went along to the Science on a Plate exhibition at the Royal Botanic Gardens today.
which their volunteers were happy to demonstrate!
They also have a wee quiz where you have to identify the seeds of various garden vegetables, in which I demonstrated I have much to learn!
Science on a Plate is part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival. You can see the full programme here. The exhibition runs until 15 April.
You can read my first Science Festival blog post for Clicket here (scroll down for my post)
Hard Rain Whole Earth runs at the Botanics until Sunday 1 July.
This beautifully laid out exhibition included photos of people on their allotment gardens taken by Carlo d'Alessandro. Nicely decorated market stalls have displays outlining the importance of plants to our diet and how wild food harvesting can help to preserve biodiversity (presented by the Botanics), crop breeding (presented by the James Hutton Institute), nutrition and health (presented by the Rowett Institute) and sustainable fish (Marine Scotland). The exhibition was hosted by the Botanics' Edible Gardening Project, who also had a stall demonstrating some very crafty ideas on how to recycle plastic household waste (such as margarine tubs and plastic bottles) into garden tools and equipment.
which their volunteers were happy to demonstrate!
They also have a wee quiz where you have to identify the seeds of various garden vegetables, in which I demonstrated I have much to learn!I then went back into the cold and rain and walked round the outdoor exhibition of Whole Earth Hard Rain, a follow on to the original Hard Rain exhibition which I blogged about here. The new exhibition looks at some of the many environmental issues that face us and some of the solutions too. The centrepiece of the exhibition is the beautiful Tibetan 'People's Pledge' Tent but there were no postcards to write on and the touchscreen pledge facility hadn't yet been set up.
Science on a Plate is part of the Edinburgh International Science Festival. You can see the full programme here. The exhibition runs until 15 April.You can read my first Science Festival blog post for Clicket here (scroll down for my post)
Hard Rain Whole Earth runs at the Botanics until Sunday 1 July.
Sunday, 1 April 2012
Creative Writing Workshop at Gorgie City Farm
There are still places available on the creative writing workshop I'm facilitating at Gorgie City Farm! If you intend to go along, please book in advance to avoid disappointment!
BOOK NOW by phoning Malcolm on 0131 623 7031 or emailing education@gorgiecityfarm.org.uk
Gorgie City Farm
Be Inspired by the Animals!
Creative Writing Workshop
with local writer Juliet Wilson
with local writer Juliet Wilson
2-4pm, Tuesday 17 April 2012
Cost: £10 / £8 concessions
BOOK NOW by phoning Malcolm on 0131 623 7031 or emailing education@gorgiecityfarm.org.uk
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The workshop will include a tour of the farm.