Due to the pandemic, the 2020 Bioblitz took the form of a special ‘Backyard’ edition, to allow social distancing. Anyone with even a tiny backyard or balcony was invited to join in to help document backyard biodiversity across T&T.
Since 2012 I have been involved in the annual T&T Bioblitz, alongside the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists’ Club. Many of our staff, students and alumni help organise and participate in this event each year, which was established by former UWIZM curator Mike Rutherford.
Due to the pandemic, the 2020 Bioblitz took the form of a special ‘Backyard’ edition, to allow social distancing. Anyone with even a tiny backyard or balcony was invited to join in to help document backyard biodiversity across T&T.
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'This year I marked Earth Day (22nd March) by accepting an invitation to appear on Trinidad's TV breakfast show - CNC3's The Morning Brew. Presenter Hema Ramkissoon was interested to hear how the Covid-19 lockdown might be impacting local wildlife, as well as what we can learn about our relationship with the planet as a result of the current circumstances - and ultimately how we can live more sustainably post-lockdown. A recording of our conversation is available here. Let's hope we can all take the opportunity to live differently even after lockdown, for the benefit of wildlife, the climate and our own wellbeing!
Amy had the pleasure of awarding her Zoology Research Project student Naomi Favrod-Coune with the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists' Club Elisha Tikasingh Prize for Best Performance in Zoology at this year's Faculty of Science and Technology Prize Giving Ceremony. Naomi also won the Environmental Management Prize for the Best Zoology Project, for her work on the exploratory behaviour of wild and ornamental guppies. Congratulations Naomi - and all the best for the future!
Thursday 22nd May was the International Day for Biodiversity. As part of Trinidad’s celebrations, I was invited to take part in a panel discussion on biodiversity at an event at the local Green Market. This article originally appeared on the BioTIME website. Earlier this year, I was invited to give a lecture at the monthly meeting of the Trinidad and Tobago Field Naturalists’ Club. This excellent organisation was founded in 1891, and organises weekly hikes and specialist field trips for its members, who encompass a wide range of ages and backgrounds, united by an interest in Trinidad’s abundant and unique natural history. Alongside steel pan, calypso and rum, the guppy (Poecilia reticulata) is one of Trinidad and Tobago’s most famous exports – and, like carnival, birdlife and leatherback turtles, it is also one its most popular attractions, drawing in many international academics each year. However, despite being one of the most-studied fish in the world, surprisingly it tends to be dismissed as a lowly ‘drain fish’ in its native land, due to its great abundance and ability to survive in less-than-pristine habitats. I was delighted to take the opportunity to speak about our research into the remarkable reproductive ability of the guppy, and how this has allowed it to colonise habitats all over the globe, as well as discussing more generally why this species has been so keenly studied. Many in the audience appeared to be genuinely unaware of how fascinating this seemingly insignificant little fish is, and how important it has been to our knowledge of evolution and ecology, and were extremely interested to hear about it. The level of interest in the topic was confirmed by the deluge of insightful and pertinent questions at the end of the lecture, which touched upon many of the important areas of current research into Trinidad’s most famous fish. I am hopeful that with greater awareness of the importance of this species to science among the inhabitants of Trinidad and Tobago, we will both start to see more Trinidadians joining the international guppy research community, and also notice an increased public awareness of the urgent need for conservation of the guppy’s Northern Range habitat, which faces constant threat from agriculture, pollution and, most worryingly, expanding quarrying operations. |
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