All Posts By

Richard Lilley

Richard Lilley
2
Awareness
November 15, 2020

A Life On Our Planet

“I’ve had an extraordinary life. It’s only now that I appreciate how extraordinary. As a young man, I felt I was out there in the wild, experiencing the untouched natural world – but it was an illusion. The tragedy of our time has been happening all around us, barely noticeable from day to day – the loss of our planet’s wild places, its biodiversity. I have been witness to this decline. A Life on Our Planet is my witness statement, and my vision for the future. It is the story of how we came to make this, our greatest mistake…
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Richard Lilley
0
Education
October 15, 2020

The role of seagrass meadows in promoting Ocean Literacy

Ocean Literacy is defined as ‘an understanding of the ocean’s influence on us and our influence on the ocean.’ There are Seven Principles of Ocean Literacy: The Earth has one big ocean with many features. The ocean and the life in the ocean shape the features of Earth. The ocean is a major influence on weather and climate. The ocean made the Earth habitable. The ocean supports a great diversity of life and ecosystems. The ocean and humans are inextricably interconnected. The ocean is largely unexplored. According to the Marine Biological Association (MBA) these seven Ocean Literacy ‘Principles’ were developed by hundreds of educators and scientists in the USA as a…
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Richard Lilley
0
PS Updates
June 28, 2019

Project Seagrass: A Year In Review 2018-2019

Richard Lilley Every year, as a charitable organisation, we have to write a report highlighting the previous 12 months activities. In our early days as a charity these seemed fairly straightforward, but as I sit here to write this, I find it very difficult to decided what to include. A good sign for seagrass! Anyway, this is my take on our work for the 12 months from April 2018 to March 2019. April 2018 April 2018 seems like a long time ago now, but our financials year kicked off with Laura attending “A new post-2020 biodiversity agenda – the communications…
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Richard Lilley
0
CampaignsPS UpdatesResearch
April 25, 2019

Spotlight on Scotland: The Sound of Jura

The weather in Scotland has been beautiful recently making the start of my Spring fieldwork very enjoyable - although surface water temperatures of 7 or 8℃ was a swift reminder that winter has only just left us! Last week I was very lucky to be shown around the Taynish peninsula (Loch Sween, Linne Mhuirich and the Sound of Jura) by members of the community group ‘Friends of the Sound of Jura.’ The Sound of Jura is home to some of the most fascinating and diverse marine life in Scotland and this community group seeks to protect the Sound from threats…
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Richard Lilley
0
AwarenessEducationGuest Blog
February 11, 2018

A Symphony For Scottish Seagrass

Hello Team Seagrass! I am Rufus, a volunteer with Project Seagrass and a marine biology graduate from the University of St Andrews. Since graduating in June 2017, I have begun working for the Scottish Chamber Orchestra's Connect team and the University of St Andrews' Music Centre. In this split position, I get to enjoy the benefits of working with extraordinary artists and musicians across the country to inspire babies, toddlers, children, students and adults to get more involved with the music in the community around them. There are so many educational opportunities provided by both the Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the University of St…
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Richard Lilley
1
AwarenessEducationPS Updates
November 23, 2017

Blue Planet, Green Seas. What’s the take home message?

This weekend we are in for a treat as the BBC Blue Planet team broadcast episode 5 “Green Seas” for the first time (Sunday 26th November, BBC One, 8pm – don’t miss it!). The episode will reveal amazing footage of charismatic animals such as the Weedy Sea Dragon, the Green Sea Turtle and the Tiger Shark. These are just a few of the enigmatic species we associate with seagrass meadows, and all of these species are showcased in this episode! It’s now been over a year since we hosted the 12th International Seagrass Biology Workshop in Wales and it got me thinking about how…
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Richard Lilley
0
AwarenessEducationIssues
October 13, 2017

Festivals of Seagrass: Cause for Ocean Optimism!

Over the next few days the Save Posidonia Project, Formentera celebrates the Save Posidonia Festival. The idea behind the project is to host a festival where culture, sport and environmental activities will be carried out that celebrate the fantastic contribution that the seagrass Posidonia oceanica makes to Mediterranean well-being. The festival is aimed both at marine professionals, as well as the public, and hopes to champion sustainability, so that it is not just an act or one off event, but becomes a permanent way of being. Outputs from the festival are concrete, with the most innovative scientific and environmental projects presented at the festival…
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Richard Lilley
0
AwarenessEducationPS Updates
July 30, 2017

Round The Pier Day. A weekend with Scottish Wildlife Trusts in the Wester Ross Marine Protected Area.

Last weekend on July 22nd, Ullapool Rotary Club put on yet another wonderful "Round The Pier Day" and Project Seagrass were invited by the Scottish Wildlife Trusts, who, thanks to Ullapool Harbour Trust and staff, have been featuring a ‘Wildlife Marquee’ as be part of the day. We were thus able to join Hebridean Whale and Dolphin Trust (HWDT), Whale and Dolphin Conservation (WDC), Marine Conservation Society (MCSUK), RSPB Scotland and Capturing our Coast in the Wildlife Marquee. It was a super day with 1728 visitors coming onto the Pier to enjoy the festivities throughout the day! In Scotland Project Seagrass have been working alongside Scottish Wildlife Trusts to raise awareness of Eelgrass (Zostera…
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Richard Lilley
0
AwarenessEducationPS Updates
July 29, 2017

Year FOUR of Project Seagrass!

So that’s 4 years, 1460 days, 35,040 hours, 2,120,400 minutes or 12,614,400 seconds of seagrass! 2016/2017 has been our biggest 12 months to date, with our hosting of the 12th International Seagrass Biology Workshop at Nant Gwrtheyrn the obvious highlight. But that’s not all we’ve been up to this year. Since our ‘3 years of Project Seagrass’ blog last July, we’ve enjoyed making marine science matter at IMCC4 last August, right up to outreach at Ullapool Pier Day (blog to follow) just this last week. This blog is thus a celebration, and a review, of our 4th year as an officially seagrass focused entity! 2016 August…
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Richard Lilley
0
AwarenessGuest BlogPS Updates
May 8, 2017

One marathon down… Two to go! Next stop Edinburgh!

  Well, Sunday 23rd April came and went and…   I DID IT!  All those long runs, early mornings and late evenings were worth it. All that snow, rain and sleet…All in the name of Project Seagrass – my #ReasonToRun! There was a good buzz about the London Marathon. I completed the London Marathon in a time of 4hrs and 2 minutes. I’m so relieved to have made it round in one piece… I really can’t believe I’ve ran my first marathon after all these months of training! I just want to thank everyone who has sponsored me so far! http/uk.virginmoneygiving.com/SJPopester…
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