Species ID Skills Virtual Symposium

Species identification skills are essential for taxonomists, museum collection managers, biological recorders, conservationists and ecologists. The ability to accurately determine plants, animals and fungi to species level ranges from relatively easy for some groups, to highly technical and specialised in others.

This Species ID Skills Virtual Symposium will bring together conservationists, environmental educators, biological recording schemes and more to discuss the challenges and opportunities relating to developing species ID skills in both professional and non-professional audiences. We'll explore how training, ID guides, assessments and emerging technologies can be used to develop these skills in both professional and non-professional audiences.

The presentations will be recorded and shared with those who booked alongside Q&A transcripts and relevant links following the event via a password-protected website.

Speaker Programme

This event will feature four presentations, each followed by Q&A sessions:

1. BioLinks: Developing Structured ID Training Pathways for Invertebrate Groups with Keiron Derek Brown (Biological Recording Company)
2. What is it? Developing Biodiversity identification Resources with Dr Rebecca Farley-Brown (Field Studies Council)
3. The Field Identification Skills Certificate: Assessing Botanical ID Skills with Dr Chantal Helm (Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland)
4. Speaker 4 details coming soon...

Ticket Fees

This event is unfunded and we rely on ticket fees to cover the costs of running the event. However, we did not want cost to be a barrier to attendance so we are letting you decide what you can afford to pay to attend.

1. Professional Ticket - Ticket price is £25. Ticket option for those attending in a professional capacity as part of their work or for their career professional development.

2. Non-professional Ticket - Pay what you can afford (minimum fee of £1, recommended donation £10). Ticket option for non-professionals such as volunteer biological recorders, conservation volunteers and citizen scientists.

BioLinks: Developing Structured ID Training Pathways for Invertebrate Groups

Keiron Derek Brown (Biological Recording Company)

The FSC BioLinks project aimed to address the shortage of biological recorders for under-recorded and difficult-to-identify invertebrate groups through a substantial training programme based on structured ID training pathways for each focus species group. This presentation will focus on the classroom, field and lab-based training courses delivered through BioLinks, and discuss the challenges and successes demonstrated by BioLinks in relation to developing species ID skills in the biological recording community.

Keiron Derek Brown has been running the National Earthworm Recording Scheme since its launch in 2014. He has been working as a biological recording professional since 2017 when he joined the Field Studies Council where he developed and then delivered the FSC BioLinks invertebrate recording project. Following the completion of this project, Keiron set up the Biological Recording Company to support the environmental sector through training and consultancy.

What is it? Developing Biodiversity identification Resources

Dr Rebecca Farley-Brown (Field Studies Council)

A lack of suitable resources hampers identification. A good guide needs to be suitable for the user’s level of experience as well as accurate and easy to use. Over 40 years ago the AIDGAP (Aids to Difficult Groups of Animals and Plants) project started to develop ‘user tested’ keys, this since has grown into a range of over 175 identification resources.

Dr Rebecca Farley-Brown is Head of Publications for the Field Studies Council, where a key part of her role is the development of identification guides that are both accurate and accessible. Over the last 25 years Bek has helped produce over 200 identification resources, including guides for beginners and citizen science projects, WildID fold-out guides, AIDGAP books and specialist keys (with the Freshwater Biological Association, UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Royal Entomological Society and Linnean Society of London).

The Field Identification Skills Certificate: Assessing Botanical ID Skills

Dr Chantal Helm (Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland)

The Field Identification Skills Certificate (FISC) is a test that assesses your botanical proficiency on a scale from 1 (beginner) to 5 (professional), with a level 6 awarded in exceptional cases. Originally developed by Sarah Whild and Sue Dancey, the BSBI's FISC Development Working Group (including a number of experienced FISC Assessors) now supports and oversees the running of FISCs.

The FISC assesses your real-life botanical skills and is gaining popularity and becoming an industry standard, with some consultancies sending their staff annually to encourage skill development. This talk will discuss how the assessments are improving the quality of professional botanical skills, especially in light of recent changes to legislation and the introduction of BNG, as well as their impact on the "amateur" botanical community.

Dr Chantal Helm is the BSBI's training coordinator responsible for FISC and Identiplant. She is also a terrestrial ecologist with field experience in South Africa and the UK, with a broad interest in natural history. After a decade in academia, Chantal now focuses on delivering local voluntary conservation projects, encouraging local biological recording, undertaking freelance bat surveys and supporting students as a visiting lecturer, alongside her part-time BSBI role.