Do lots of Citizen Science in 2019
15 Citizen Science ideas for 2019 Keep your favourite camera handy! Grab all the opportunities which present themselves to take photos for the Virtual Museum. D...
Author: Les Underhill
Prof Les Underhill was Director of the Animal Demography Unit (ADU) at the University of Cape Town from its start in 1991 until he retired. Although citizen science in biology is Les’s passion, his academic background is in mathematical statistics. He was awarded his PhD in abstract multivariate analyses in 1973 at UCT and what he likes to say about his PhD is that he solved a problem that no one has ever had. He soon grasped that this was not the field to which he wanted to devote his life, so he retrained himself as an applied statistician, solving real-world problems.
Alien opportunities: 10 bird species with feral populations in South Africa
Research opportunities on alien birds Although alien species are widely (and rightly) regarded as a “bad thing”, they offer special opportunities for research! ...
Calvinia BioBash: Citizen Science in the Hantam
The Hantam is the general area north of Calvinia in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It’s an arid area, and poorly covered in biodiversity surveys. C...
What’s the value of a photo?
The take home message has to be that the value of photographic records to biodiversity mapping at the species level, as done by the Virtual Museum, is massive.
Industrial biodiversity 1 : Epping Industria I
What motivates this blog on industrial biodiversity? Well, the BDI took occupation of its unit in Epping Industria I on Monday this past week. Director Pete Lav...
Why studying African birds’ varied migration patterns is so important
A white-throated swallow, one of several intra-African migratory birds. Photo credit: MartinMaritz/Shutterstock -oo0oo- Les Underhill recently published this pi...
Birds and barbed wire
Birds and barbed wire – by Les Underhill Barbed wire was invented in America in the 1860s, and used to keep cattle inside of camps, or outside of crops. W...
International Citizen Science Day in The Company’s Garden
International Citizen Science Day in The Company’s Garden – by Les Underhill All but one of the thousands of people in The Company’s Garden, in the heart ...
Paardeberg site report – 2018/04/07
By Les Underhill. Photo credits: Les Underhill and Dieter Oschadleus Team BDI explored the northwest corner of the Paardeberg on Saturday 7 April 2018. We visit...
Lacewings at Beaufort West, on the farm Little England
Lacewings are not one of the charismatic groups of insects, and have been poorly studied. They consume aphids and do pollination, so they are one of the key eco...