‘Health indicators’ The Azalea lawn is a thing to behold in summer – bright swashes of bold colour and wonderful fragrant smells. But delving between the blooms you…
Lichens are extraordinary organisms. Easily overlooked, and often un-noticed by many people, lichens colonise trees and many other surfaces (walls, pavements, railings) in our urban areas. Did you…
Congratulations on completing your Lichens – Making the Invisible Visible Air Pollution Survey We hope you enjoyed the experience and that through exploring your local area in new…
Just one of the amazing things about lichens is… You don’t have to go to a tropical rainforest, the Caledonian Forest or the far west coast of Scotland…
Outdoor Air pollution Air pollution is a huge global environmental health issue, as recognised by the World Health Organisation. The air quality in Scotland is generally very good,…
The idea formed quite early on in my TCV Natural Talent Traineeship based at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh to develop a specific tool kit to help people…
How a particularly grand piece of street furniture such as this one has not been captured on Google Maps I do not know… Almost invisible to the casual…
A trip to the borders ensued for this surveying site – with Peebles being my destination. After a beautiful but rather bumpy breezy trip on the front seat…
Under a glorious canopy of blossom I find the Stirling’s automatic air pollution monitoring station, (part of the Automatic Urban & Rural Network). A rather battered looking station,…
Some sites are very quick to survey. Unfortunately this isn’t a good thing. It’s quick only because there are literally NO LICHENS to survey. Trees surveyed in this…
Regularly hitting moderate levels for pollution, as monitored and recorded by the 91 Air Quality Monitoring Stations that are situated across Edinburgh and the central belt of Scotland,…
Some sites you just have to visit twice. Unexpected hail and snow blizzards when surveying are just part of the course, but add strong winds to that, and…
The journey begins. 8am. I’ve just cycled north to south through the bustling traffic heavy centre of Edinburgh. I arrive, lock up my bike, pull out a clip…