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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.
Archive/Biodiversity/Citizen Science/Karoo/News/Vanrhynsdorp/Virtual Museum

Fundamentals of Citizen Science, a BDI course

Posted on 23/12/2020 by Les Underhill

During 2021, the BDI will offer a course called "Fundamentals of Citizen Science".

Archive/BDI Citizen Scientist Hours/BDI YouTube Channel/Biodiversity/Citizen Science/News/Virtual Museum

BDI YouTube Channel: three months of growth!

Posted on 03/10/2020 by Les Underhill

The BDI launched its YouTube channel on 2 July. Three months later, the channel contained 61 videos and these videos had had more than 3,000 views. Up to now th...

Archive/Biodiversity/News/OdonataMAp/Virtual Museum

Citizen Science Week #1 from 19 to 27 September 2020: OdonataMAP in South Africa

Posted on 22/09/2020 by Les Underhill

OdonataMAP is the Odonata Atlas of Africa. OdonataMAP is one of the sections of the Virtual Museum. From September 2020, the project has been hosted jointly by ...

Archive/Biodiversity/Citizen Science/LepiMAP/News/Virtual Museum

Fanie Rautenbach’s Great LepiMAP Challenge 2020/21

Posted on 02/09/2020 by Les Underhill

Fanie Rautenbach has worked his way through the LepiMAP records for South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland, has identified data gaps, and is challenging us to fill...

21 records of Common Chaffinch in BirdPix
Archive/Biodiversity/BirdPix/Citizen Science/News/Virtual Museum

Impacts of Rhodes on Biodiversity 2 : Common Chaffinch

Posted on 31/08/2020 by Les Underhill

The first blog in this series talked a bit about Cecil John Rhodes and his beliefs, which can can be summarized in this quote: “Remember that you are an E...

Archive/Biodiversity/Citizen Science/News/Virtual Museum

Impacts of Rhodes on Biodiversity 1 : Eastern Grey Squirrel

Posted on 22/08/2020 by Les Underhill

Cecil John Rhodes, who believed that the English were the best, introduced grey squirrels, from America, to his estate in Cape Town about 1900. This is the stor...

Archive/BirdPix/Citizen Science/News/Virtual Museum

BirdPixing since the start of lockdown

Posted on 24/06/2020 by Les Underhill

During the lockdown period in South Africa, the Virtual Museum kept going. 4008 records were submitted to BirdPix during 27 March to 23 June 2020. But only 34% ...

Archive/Biodiversity/LepiMAP/News/Virtual Museum

Mozart moth: Variations on a theme

Posted on 04/05/2020 by Les Underhill

LepiMAP aims to atlas not only butterflies, but also moths. Which species of moth was recorded most frequently in LepiMAP during the lockdown period starting 27...

Archive/Biodiversity/Citizen Science/LepiMAP/News/Virtual Museum

LockdownApril: Highlights of BestMonthEver for LepiMAP

Posted on 01/05/2020 by Les Underhill

Lockdown April (April 2020) produced a lot of interesting butterfly records for LepiMAP: Two-pip Policeman Coeliades pisistratus, Nomad Dart Andronymus neander ...

Biodiversity/Citizen Science/LepiMAP/News/Virtual Museum

Lowdown on LepiMAP: Butterflies of KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape

Posted on 14/04/2020 by Les Underhill

The lowdown on progress with LepiMAP (butterflies) in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. Overall species richness. Species richness in past year. When was each...

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  • Home
  • Departments
    • Research Training
      • Introduction
      • Research Themes
      • Study Sites
      • Logistics
    • Bird Ringing
      • Introduction
      • Ringing history
      • The Value of Bird Ringing
    • Science and Ecology Specialist Consulting
    • Citizen Science – Biodiversity Conservation & Research
    • Biodiversity Observations
  • About
    • What we do
    • Who we are
    • Contact us
  • News
    • Archive
    • BDI Research
    • BDI Bridge
    • BDInsight
  • Upcoming BDI events
  • Biodiversity Projects
    • Bird Feeder Project
    • Atlas of Frogs & Toads
    • Atlas of African Neuroptera and Megaloptera
    • Atlas of Dragonflies & Damselflies
    • Atlas of Butterflies & Moths
  • Karoo Research Centre

Recent posts

  • Black-necked Grebe (Podiceps nigricollis)
    Cover image of Black-necked […]
  • Bird ringing at Ouberg : 30 May to 4 June 202…
    We made only two ringing visits to Ouberg Private […]
  • Sociable Weaver (Philetairus socius)
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  • Counting African Oystercatchers on Robben Isl…
    We counted the African Oystercatchers on the 10 […]
  • Bird ringing at Strandfontein Sewage Works : …
    On 24 May 2026, we were bird ringing at the […]
The Biodiversity & Development Institute is a non-profit company registered with the Companies and Intellectual Property Commission of South Africa (CIPC), Reg. No. 2015/136344/08.
Registration in terms of the Non-Profit Organisations Act: 302-671 NPO.


Directors:
Prof Les Underhill, Ms Sue Gie, Jorn Das
les@thebdi.org
072 062 1140


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