Thursday, 18th May 2023 at 6pm. At the Poly in Falmouth or online via Zoom.

Join us when Westcountry Rivers Trust bring rivers to The Poly! Hear all about their projects and how you could get involved.

This event will be held in-person at the Poly in Famouth, or online via Zoom – online tickets can be bought via Eventbrite. Please follow the relevant links above.

About the talk

Join the Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT), an environmental charity putting science at the heart of its river conservation in Cornwall for an evening of conversation and films.

From source to sea, clean, flowing rivers support the resilience of their surroundings – ecosystems, wildlife, people and their livelihoods. Across a variety of projects, WRT is tackling river-related challenges to ensure freshwater habitats, and all who depend on them, can thrive.

Come along to learn about some of the charity’s projects restoring and protecting the county’s rivers and wildlife, and how being a citizen scientist with the charity makes a big impact for the short and long-term health of the waterways being monitored. Plus, be among the first to see its short new film ‘Science, Citizens and a Love of Westcountry Rivers’, showcasing the charity’s river guardians of the region.

This session comes to Falmouth as a part of the ‘Bringing Rivers to You’ campaign, where WRT is taking the joys and stories of local rivers into bustling town centres to reconnect communities with their waterways.

Thursday, 24th November 2022 at 7:30pm. Register your interest via Eventbrite.

Vicki Spooner will be discussing Falmouth Harbour’s sustainability work, what has been achieved locally, and future initiatives.

About our speaker: Vicki Spooner

Vicki is the Environment and Quality Systems Manager at Falmouth Harbour responsible for developing and maintaining the organisations integrated management system. She has always been inspired and fascinated by the marine environment. Vicki studied Marine Zoology at University and found that she wanted to understand more about human impacts and how these can be mitigated. She is motivated to continuously develop ideas and work collaboratively with colleagues and wider stakeholders to find solutions and opportunities to lead and advocate for change to make a positive impact on the environment and communities.

Thursday, 6th October 2022 at 7:30pm.

Hilary Mitchell will cover the history of the Cornish Chough, together with insights into the species’ behaviour and where we are today.

About our speaker: Hilary Mitchell

Hilary is a birder with a keen interest in Cornish geology and is a member of RGSC. Hilary is one of the joint editors of “Birds in Cornwall”, the county bird report which you may receive if you are also Cornwall Birds (CBWPS) members.

Hilary has been a Chough volunteer since 2013, for both RSPB and NT and looks after the Cornish Chough database on behalf of Cornwall Birds which includes the Chough sighting emails sent into choughs@cbwps.org.uk.

This event has been postponed until after summer. Sign up to our mailing list to be informed of the new time and day once it is available.

Marine plastic pollution is one of the most visible environmental problems of our time – but has it made us miss the elephant in the room?

About the talk

Claire spent many years running a Cornish beach cleaning group and campaigning about marine plastic.

However, over time she started to question whether the huge public focus on the very obvious issue of plastic pollution might mean we were failing to address a much bigger problem for the marine environment – climate change.

About our speaker

Claire Wallerstein set up and for eight years ran an extremely active Cornish beach cleaning and marine plastic campaigning charity, and was the co-founder of the Cornish Plastic Pollution Coalition.

She now works as the producer for the charity Cornwall Climate Care, which is making a series of 30-minute documentaries about various climate-related topics, aiming to inspire community conversations and action in Cornwall.

Her previous professional background was in print and radio journalism, reporting from South East Asia and South America for the Guardian and BBC World Service, among others. She was also a press officer for the International Fund for Animal Welfare, and worked for many years as a translator in Spain.

Wednesday, 18th May 2022. Register your interest via Eventbrite.

Is the Weather Changing in Cornwall?: Implications and Perspectives from the Kernow Weather Team

About the talk

Weather is one of the main talking points in life, if you’re meeting friends, family or business associates it’s always a talking point. “It’s too wet, too cold, most often in Cornwall too humid or windy” and then in the blink of an eye “it’s too hot!!” I think we are all guilty of making conversations out of the weather but how much do you understand about it? That’s something we at Kernow Weather Team want to change.

You may be wondering who we are. We were an idea thought up by three like minded people five years ago. Trying to find an accurate forecast was always difficult, with Cornwall’s unique peninsula position and geography it spawns microclimates. A general Southwest forecast often leaves the Cornish community puzzled. Before Kernow Weather Team’s launch most people just looked out of the window and guessed what the day will do from what they could see. Now they have a knowledgeable and experienced team to rely on. Over five years the team has grown, allowing us to be able to share that knowledge, making it understandable to everyone. We explain the science behind it from “What is rain?” to “How heavy are big cumulonimbus thunderclouds?”, in a way that the everyday person can grasp and not be afraid to ask for clarification. We have kept our ethos, in keeping the community as part of the team, we don’t want to be the untouchables and many followers feel we are their family. We are unique offering support and advice from everyday through to many weather events often over 24 or more hours. Dave is our lead forecaster and qualified meteorologist. Among his other interests, he is currently studying volcanology and seismology. Somewhere in his busy schedule he wishes to fit in a little tornado and hurricane chasing too.

We have been monitoring how the weather is changing here in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly as well as the rest of the world. Yes, it’s changing rapidly and what was an isolated and rare weather event is now becoming more common. What will happen to Cornwall when the sea warms up just by a few degrees? It’s a frightening thought – are we prepared?

Thankfully, the use of satellites to help with weather forecasting greatly benefits not just tracking weather systems, it also helps us predict and monitor changes closely.

13th April 2022, 7:30pm. Register your interest HERE.

Dr Ian Hendy will be talking to us about the importance of seagrass and kelp forests around the world.

About the talk

Coastal and near-shore marine vegetated ecosystems are essential for life on Earth. Ecosystems including mangrove forests, saltmarsh, seagrass beds and kelp forests are incredible carbon sinks. These habitats drawdown huge amounts of carbon from the atmosphere, and deliver an amazing list of ecosystem services including (1) mitigation of climate change, (2) improving water quality, (3) significant enhancement to fishery biomass, (4) improved nursery function, and (5) deliver food provisioning for many communities. However, we are losing these essential ecosystems rapidly. These losses magnify issues associated with climate change, and the increase of habitat loss only serves to exacerbate the sixth mass extinction. We have seen between 80 to 90 % loss of kelp forests spanning Canada to Norway and at the current rate of loss, the UK will have zero kelp forests by the end of this century – resulting in more than a 90 % loss of marine wildlife. In addition, we have lost more than 90% of our seagrass habitats in the UK. Find out how we aim to bring back these crucial ecosystems, and what lessons can we learn.

About our speaker – Dr. Ian Hendy

Dr. Ian Hendy is a Senior Lecturer and Researcher in Coastal Ecosystems at the University of Portsmouth. Ian is an editor and author of the Seagrass Restoration Handbook: UK and Ireland. His most recent research has been based in the mangrove forests of Southeast Sulawesi, Indonesia, with interests focused upon the essential role of ecosystem engineers, the factors that influence biodiversity, the recycling of carbon in coastal ecosystems and the enhancement of, and conservation of marine fisheries and MPAs. As a professional marine conservation ecologist, Ian’s research investigates and seeks to understand how human interactions, environmental variation and climate change are responsible for altering biodiversity, biomass and productivity. Ian’s aim is to facilitate the rewilding of marine ecosystems in an effort to restore the natural ecology, biodiversity and energy flows – focussing on the structure and function of ecosystems. In particular, Ian looks for unusual patterns within his data, and strives to understand reasons driving diminishing aquatic ecosystems and how best to improve, restore and manage those impacts.

Wednesday, 16th February 2022 7:30pm.

Emily Stevenson will be talking to us about her research relating to antimicrobial resistance in relation to microplastics.

About the talk

Emily’s research aims to investigate whether microplastics are important platforms for the growth, enrichment and dissemination of AMR biofilms, and whether there are associated ecological implications of microplastics, antimicrobials and AMR on the gut microbiota of marine organisms.

About our speaker – Emily Stevenson

Emily Stevenson has recently started a PhD investigating microplastics as vectors for antimicrobial resistance in aquatic systems, under the supervision of Dr Aimee Murray and Professor Angus Buckling at the University of Exeter, and Professor Pennie Lindeque and Dr Matthew Cole at Plymouth Marine Laboratory. This builds on research Emily carried out during her Masters degree in 2019/20 in which she researched the role of microplastics in the dissemination of potentially pathogenic or antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Between completing her Masters and beginning her PhD, Emily worked on a project with the University of Exeter’s Medical School, MRC Centre for Medical Mycology and the Environment Agency, investigating antifungal resistance in the environment, and she has also continued to research antimicrobial resistance in the environment as a research technician for Dr Aimee Murray, working on Dr Murray’s ‘SELECT method’.

Emily is also actively engaged in public engagement and policy-influencing: in 2021, she joined the official youth engagement group of the G7 on the ‘climate and environment policy track’, ensuring that the environmental policy priorities of the youth (those aged 18-30) are heard and considered at the highest level of international decision making.

Finally, Emily is the co-founder of Cornwall based conservation NGO, Beach Guardian. Beach Guardian aims to empower communities to tackle plastic waste, and addresses critical environmental issues at policy, industry, education, and individual levels. Since 2017, Beach Guardian has engaged with every primary & secondary school and college in Cornwall and worked with some of the world’s largest companies, to help them reduce their reliance on plastics, such as PepsiCo and Nissan. Through this work, Emily has been recognised by the British Prime Minister with a ‘Point of Light’ award and was awarded the highest accolade a young person can achieve for social action and humanitarian efforts: the Diana Award.

Wednesday, 17th November 2021 at 6pm. Register your interest HERE.

A virtual talk by Dr Susan Cheyne, co-director of Borneo Nature Foundation.

About this event

Dr Susan Cheyne has worked in South East Asia since 1997 and in Indonesia since 2002. She received her PhD from the University of Cambridge on primate ecology and conservation looking into the illegal pet trade of gibbons and studying the rehabilitation and reintroduction successes of these threatened apes. As a co-director of Borneo Nature Foundation International, she leads a team working on the conservation of primates and wild cats using camera trap technology to understand the movement, distribution and conservation status of these threatened cats.

How to Register

This event has been organised in collaboration with and is hosted by the Royal Society of Biology: Devon and Cornwall Branch.

For this event only, please register through the RSB website here.
The event is free to attend, although you will need to register for an RSB account in order to sign up. Please note that you will receive a Zoom link to join the event immediately before the talk.
Please get in touch if you have any issues or questions about registration.