Pembroke Students and Academics Collaborate on Biodiversity Project for UK State Schools with the Institute for Research in Schools

A group of Pembroke students and our Biology Tutorial Fellow Professor Rob Salguero-Gómez are seeking to turn the tide on biodiversity loss through a project which engages young people in UK state schools with biodiversity. 

We are excited to announce our collaboration with the Institute for Research in Schools (IRIS) on the launch of Wild Things. This is part of a wider suite of projects developed by IRIS, a charity dedicated to providing opportunities for students aged 11-18 to participate in authentic STEM research alongside leading universities and industry partners.

The new project will give participants the opportunity to explore biodiversity in their local area, gaining practical experience and skills while contributing to wider understanding of local ecosystems. 

“All our food comes from biodiversity; our clothes; our transport; a lot of our technology is inspired by biodiversity; medicine comes from biodiversity,” explains Pembroke alumna Barbara Francik, (2020, MBiol Biology) who set up the Pembroke Biodiversity Project in 2021.

As students use practical habitat surveying techniques to carry out their own research, they will be challenged to come up with ways to support and improve local biodiversity health. The team behind the project hopes that participants will not only gain new skills and experience beyond the curriculum, but will have an immediate impact on their surroundings. Professor Salguero-Gomez, who heads up Ecology and Evolution research group The SalGo Team, feels strongly that these students will in turn contribute to scientists’ understanding of how we can best conserve local biodiversity and ensure that wildlife thrives: “Knowledge transfer goes both ways; some of the best research ideas in my lab at the moment actually come from students, regardless of how old they are.”

For Professor Salguero- Gómez and the team, encouraging young people to engage with biodiversity is crucial: “they are going to be the ones inheriting the land, they’re going to be to the ones having to manage the mistakes we’ve made before. So what better way to engage in this better understanding, than to do that from an early age?” 

Wild Things is designed to be accessible to students of varying ages and with different interests, not just those pursuing science subjects. The project is split into four phases, beginning with background research and skills development as they are taught ecologists’ methods for surveying insects, plants, birds and mammals. Students are then free to conduct their own research projects in groups or independently, before presenting their findings as academic posters or at IRIS conferences. IRIS conferences provide students with platforms to showcase their research, engage with peers, and receive feedback from professionals in the field.

We hope that students will not only come out with a new appreciation for how biologists work collaboratively to solve big challenges facing our natural environment, but most importantly with their own greater understanding of the importance of biodiversity.

To learn more about Wild Things and how schools can get involved, please visit the project page on the Institute for Research in Schools website.