Keeping you up to date with Project Seagrass news and views with a mixture of field notes and commentary on seagrass and marine conservation topics.
With every year that passes we’re given a unique opportunity to look back and reflect on what we’ve achieved. I’ll be honest, every year since our inception in 2013 we’ve been immensely shocked at just how much we’ve achieved given that we’re on a shoestring budget. 2016 was certainly no
As I sit at my desk looking back at 2016 it occurs to me that one of the biggest challenges we faced as an organisation was “getting the word out” about ISBW12. It’s one thing getting the global seagrass community on board (and transported to a VERY SMALL village in north
Let me introduce ‘SJ’ (Sarah Jane Pope). SJ has been with Project Seagrass from the very start, she used to act as our secretary when we were based out of the front room of my house in Swansea; collecting post, answering the phone, and sending mail on to the relevant people… Things
It’s already been one month since the 12th International Seagrass Biology Workshop began at Nant Gwrtheyrn in Wales. This time last month the world’s foremost seagrass scientists were descending on the Llŷn Peninsula and the Project Seagrass team were in the midst of the final preparations for hosting the largest International Seagrass Biology Workshop
First off, the stereotype of a conference in my head is hushed voices, fancy clothes and everything deadly serious, but throw into the mix that it’s a conference based around seagrass and I was completely at a loss as to what to expect. Having packed for all possibilities (would the
A sunny Saturday in Swansea and Project Seagrass had a stall set up ready for the British Science Festival’s Family Fun weekend. A big seagrass mural was laid out surrounded by crayons and paints for kids to get stuck in, and immediately the crowds hit. Kids everywhere colouring all kinds of
Project Seagrass moved to Scotland in April 2016 stating that this moment would herald A New Dawn For Scottish Seagrass. We spoke then of our ambition to engage with Scotland’s coastal communities and begin the much needed process of mapping Scotland’s seagrass meadows. We also discussed our ambition for conducting outreach
www.conbio.org The International Marine Conservation Congress (IMCC) represents one of the most important international meetings for marine conservation professionals and students. IMCC4 was recently held in St. John’s Newfoundland and Labrador between 30 July – 3 August 2016, building on from the success of Glasgow in 2014 and bringing together
Sitting down to write this I really don’t know quite where to begin! What a year it has been, in fact, what a 3 years! Although for me it seems that soooooo much has happened in just the last 12 months! Before I start, on a personal note, I remember
As masters students from both Swansea and Glasgow Universities, we’re both currently carrying out seagrass related research projects. Beth is performing her masters project, and Lauren is performing her final year honours project. Beth is studying the impacts of chain moorings on seagrass, particularly looking at how chain width effects
Back in 2015 we entered the #PeoplesProjects, a competition held by the Big Lottery Fund and ITV to win up to £50,000 of National Lottery money. The Peoples Projects aimed to give organisations the chance to build upon previous projects they had completed with help from the Awards For All funding scheme. At the time we didn’t
Yesterday evening, we hosted our official Project Seagrass launch event and its safe to say it was a blast. We were excited and thrilled to see so many faces, some old and some new – we couldn’t be sure how many of you would make it despite the RSVP! Back
Today, the 8th March 2016, is International Women’s Day. The UN’s International Woman’s Day theme for 2016 is “Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality”; in addition, an independent campaign, separate from the UN, is being run by financial firm EY (with other corporate partners) which is
Back in December 2015 I spent a couple of weeks in the Wakatobi, Indonesia, initiating phase II of the Wakatobi Seagrass Program. This seeks to build on work carried out though a previous project “Recognising the role of seagrass meadows in food security: re-prioritising the marine conservation agenda” (2011-2014), which
We’d like to start 2016 by saying a big thank you to everyone that’s been with Project Seagrass for its 3rd year, which has without a doubt been our most successful yet. From urging the government to consider important UK seagrass areas to receiving charity status; from kicking off monitoring
When you think about areas requiring bold initiatives to protect the environment, the small Welsh costal village of Porthdinllaen might not be the first place that comes to mind, and with only two dozen buildings and a miniscule population you might find it surprising that the environment there is under
