DOUG Hawkes, one of Moray Council’s countryside rangers, will today be on hand at the Wards wetland wildlife site – between Elgin and New Elgin – to help members of the public try out a new pond-dipping platform. Three benches have been erected around the Wards’ path to allow visitors to sit and enjoy the wetlands.
New information panels and safety signs have also been erected around the site, which recently gained a certificate of commendation in the RSPB and Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management living wetlands award scheme.
A litter
-pick will take place on the site today between 2pm and 4pm.
Volunteers are asked to meet near the Elgin Scout Hut.Gloves and bags will be provided. and tea, coffee and biscuits will be served. Mr
Hawkes will also answer questions about the Wards and its range of wildlife.
Time and light“OPTICAL Atomic Clocks and Frequency Standards” is the theme for the next lecture from the Institute of Physics in Scotland. The talk – which will be given by Professor Patrick Gill, from the National Physical Laboratory – takes place in the lecture theatre at Stewart’s Melville College in Edinburgh next Tuesday.
A drinks reception will be held at 7pm, followed by the talk at 7:30pm. Prof Gill will talk about optical clocks challenging the precision of the cold caesium fountain clock.
More details can be found at
snipurl.com/iopclock.Food for thoughtINVERNESS College is holding a series of events as part of National Science and Engineering Week, which runs until 16 March. Researchers from the Ness Foundation will deliver a lecture asking, “Are we what we eat?”, about the relationship between food and mental health. The talk takes place on the Longman Campus at 7pm next Thursday.
The following day, staff at the Midmills Campus will hold interactive demonstrations on science and engineering, such as robotics and Bluetooth diagnostics for cars. The events kick off at 10:30am. More info at
www.inverness.uhi.ac.uk.‘Gale’ force A WIND turbine was switched on at Paible Primary School, at Bayhead, North Uist, this week, as part of the school’s “climate change focus week”. The high performance wind turbine is a first for the school and has been named “Gale” by the pupils. The school says the turbine is expected to provide up to 5,000kWh of energy each year. Primary six and seven pupils at Paible competed with 20 other schools throughout the Western Isles to win an “energy reduction, production and energy use” competition, sponsored by Scottish and Southern Energy. Their prize was the new wind turbine.
Art of hard scienceMUSEUM archaeologists, conservation scientists, archivists and university researchers recently took part in a one-day workshop at the Science and Technology Facilities Council’s Daresbury Laboratory to find out how cutting-edge physics equipment can be used to help preserve art and artefacts, as well as examining immovable objects, such as buildings and ships. The “Art of Hard Science” workshop was part of a science and heritage programme from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.
Cumbernauld GlenA DOOCOT on the Scottish Wildlife Trust’s Cumbernauld Glen Wildlife Reserve has been restored by the Scottish Lime Centre Trust’s masonry training squad. The work was funded by the Landfill Tax Community Fund. An open day next Saturday will mark the end of the project.
Protecting the bog
DARNRIG Moss, a lowland raised bog near Falkirk, is to be preserved. Landowners Colin and Isobel Herd will work with Scottish Natural Heritage to protect the site of special scientific interest.
‘Ambassador’ KingSIMON King, the wildlife cameraman and television presenter, has been appointed vice-president of the Wildlife Trusts, the conservation organisation that brings together the UK’s 47 local wildlife trusts, including the Scottish Wildlife Trust. King will act as an ambassador for the organisation, alongside Sir David Attenborough, Bill Oddie and Chris Packham, among others. For more details about the presenter – who rose to fame on BBC 1’s Big Cat Diaries, Springwatch and Autumnwatch – and his activities, visit his website at
www.simonkingwildlife.comThe full article contains 697 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
