NFBR 40th Celebration: Data for Nature

Help us celebrate 40 years of the National Forum for Biological Recording!

The NFBR's conference on the subject of Data for Nature will show all the different kinds of data we most need in order to rescue the UK's natural environment.

As we celebrate all the wonderful recorders and records, we will reflect on how we can ensure this is properly funded and accessible in order to achieve lasting nature recovery.

We welcome anyone with an interest in biological records and nature recovery to join us and learn about the incredible biological recording that is carried out in the UK, and how we can inspire and support future conservation action.

We have two days of talks and a field trip on the third day to Saltwells National Nature Reserve - you will receive details of the trip with your booking confirmation email.

Please once you have booked your tickets, register here so that we know your dietary requirements etc.

Day 1: Thursday 7th May

1045 (registration) -  start 1115 - 1630 (close)

1. Biological recording - who, what, where and when did it all start? with Sarah Whild

A sideways look at how biological recording started, how it became formalised, coined as a term, and how it has spread massively over recent decades. So much data - what CAN we do with it, and what SHOULD we do with it. Expect irreverence and informality and totally opportunistic plugging of a book.

Sarah Whild’s career has been spent teaching biological recording as a university lecturer, although by nature she is a botanist and has been an ecological consultant. Now retired, she works closely with the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland on field skills and is one of the NFBR's wonderful trustees.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-whild-5b151b319/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/sarahwhild.bsky.social

We2. Field Recorder Days: A London Case Study with Keiron Brown (Biological Recording Company)

Field Recorder Days are one-day field events that bring naturalists together to gather and submit biodiversity data via iRecord with specialist support — helping grow biological recording skills in London and beyond. The Biological Recording Company have been delivering an increasing number of these free-to-attend events across London, with growing demand from both delivery partners and those wishing to attend. Keiron will discuss why Field Recorder Days matter, including how they can broaden biological recording audiences, generate funds for the sector and generate new biodiversity records. He'll also touch on the importance of paying the specialist naturalist that lead these events a fair wage.

Keiron Derek Brown is a dedicated naturalist and entomologist with a strong focus on invertebrate conservation and biological recording. He is the founder of the Biological Recording Company, which provides accessible, evidence-based training for conservation professionals and amateur naturalists. Keiron also serves as the National Recorder for Earthworms with the Earthworm Society of Britain, where he established and manages the UK’s National Earthworm Recording Scheme.

LinkedIn (Keiron): https://www.linkedin.com/in/keironderekbrown/

LinkedIn (BRC): https://www.linkedin.com/company/88913808/

3. From Local Records to Global Infrastructure: How DiSSCo UK Scales Biodiversity Data for National Impact with Laurence Livermore (The Distributed System of Scientific Collections UK)

DiSSCo UK is building a national infrastructure to digitise and connect millions of natural science specimens, creating FAIR data that flows from local collections to global biodiversity infrastructures. This talk explores how our digitisation effort will complement biological recording and strengthen evidence for conservation and policy.

Laurence is a digital programme manager with over a decade of experience in natural science collections, specialising in digital innovation, mass digitisation, biodiversity informatics and building high‑performing teams. Leading the museum’s expanding digitisation team and portfolio of large‑scale digitisation initiatives, including the development and deployment of systems that streamline imaging and data capture workflows,  Laurence also oversees the operational planning for DiSSCo UK, a national programme to strengthen capability for natural science collections digitisation across the UK. This work builds on research, technical development, and collaborative work within major European Commission-funded projects focused on accelerating digitisation capacity (e.g., DiSSCo Transition, DiSSCo Prepare, and SYNTHESYS+).

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/llivermore/

4. Good news from 50 years of recording soldierflies and allies with Martin Harvey (Biological Records Centre, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology)

This year is an auspicious one, with 40 years of NFBR coinciding with 50 years of the Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme. How has the scheme changed over the last few decades, and what does the future hold?

Martin Harvey is an entomologist and biological recorder based at the UKCEH Biological Records Centre, where his work focuses on the iRecord online recording system, liaison with national recording schemes, and support for the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme. As a volunteer Martin runs the national Soldierflies and Allies Recording Scheme, and is County Moth Recorder for Berkshire vice-county. In 2023 he received a Marsh Award for Entomology from BENHS and the Marsh Charitable Trust.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kitenet/

Bluesky (Martin Harvey): https://bsky.app/profile/kitenet.bsky.social

Bluesky (Soldierfly recording scheme): https://bsky.app/profile/uk-soldierflies.bsky.social

5. Falling through the Cracks: iNaturalist Invertebrate Records in the UK with Joss Carr (Biological Recording Company)

iNaturalist is a rapidly growing source of biological records in the UK. Though it remained disconnected for many years, since 2021, iNaturalist is now integrated into the wider UK biological recording infrastructure through a link with iRecord. Today, Research Grade records from iNaturalist flow through to iRecord for (re)verification and are then able to move onwards to datasets used for UK conservation and biodiversity science. Whilst sensible in theory, analysis of verification throughput shows sizeable backlogs of unreviewed records for many taxonomic groups of invertebrates. This suggests verifiers are ignoring, or at least not prioritising, verifying records from iNaturalist. A dominant explanation for this appears to be widespread concerns with data quality on iNaturalist. For his MSc research project, Joss quantified for the first time both the 'perceived' and 'true' data quality of iNaturalist invertebrate records in the UK. This talk shares his findings and proposes measures to redress data quality concerns.

Joss is an entomologist, naturalist and biological recorder working at the Biological Recording Company. He has an MSc in Biodiversity and Conservation from Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and a BA in Geography from the University of Oxford. He is also an assistant verifier on iRecord for the Auchenorrhyncha Recording Scheme of Britain and Ireland.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joss-carr-394105265/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/josscarr.bsky.social

6. Adding Diptera to the UK Checklist: how can we support the discovery of new species? with Robin Hutchinson (Biological Records Centre, UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology)

Over the last 25 years, over 700 new flies have been added to the UK Diptera Checklist. Understanding how new species are sampled would allow us to identify how we can increase the detection of overlooked species and effectively monitor the full diversity of the UK fauna.

Robin works at the Biological Records centre at the UKCEH - supporting recording schemes and the UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme with data management. They are particularly interested in the ecology of parasitoides, and in understanding how host-parasite interactions are impacted by invasive species and other global threats. They are currently studying for a PhD at the University of Exeter, looking at how we can support recording of under-recorded groups.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robinhutchinson18/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/robin-hutchinson.bsky.social

7. How the NBN Trust are making data work for nature through the NBN Atlas: 300 million records and counting (National Biodiversity Network Atlas)

The NBN Trust has been championing the sharing of biodiversity data since 2000. The NBN Atlas launched in 2017 (taking over from its predecessor the NBN Gateway) and today has over 300 million records shared by over 190 Data Partners from across the sector. The NBN Trust has launched the NBN Atlas 2025-2030 strategy to ensure that we maintain the NBN Atlas as the cornerstone of the UK's biodiversity data infrastructure. The NBN Trust has also been the lead for iNaturalistUK since 2021, supporting the engagement and use of iNaturalist in the UK.

Rhiann has been at the NBN Trust for 3 years, supporting people with using the NBN Atlas and with the development of the NBN Atlas. Before the NBN Trust Rhiann worked at a Local Environmental Record Centre and is still involved in wildlife recording, mainly through using iNaturalist.

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rhiannydd-stock-370503210

8. Predicting the presence of fungi grasslands in Lancashire

Good fungi grasslands are rare and can support many threatened species, they can take over a century to establish and are incredibly sensitive to disturbance and changes in land-use but we know little about their distribution in Lancashire. This at a time when strategic planning for and investment in nature is becoming more spatially focussed and targeted. We explore the use of biological records in 'presence-only prediction' to improve local knowledge and better identify this poorly recognised community of fungi.

Ben is a naturalist with the biological heritage sites partnership hosted by Lancashire County Council. With a background in LERCs ad Local Sites systems. Ben is interested in the practical application of biological records to inform and influence local conservation and strategic planning to better protect biodiversity interest at the local scale. 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/deedbn/

Day 2: Friday 8th May

0900 (registration) - talks start 0930 - AGM 1200-1300 - 1500 (close)

9. Opportunities and Challenges of AI for Biodiversity Monitoring with Simon Rolph

This talk looks at how AI could transform biodiversity monitoring and biological recording, from today’s image recognition tools to emerging ideas like AI “agents”. It also reflects on the limitations, risks, and practical realities of using AI in the field.

Simon is interested in how data science methods, including integrated species distribution modelling, can be used in the analysis and collection of biodiversity data to improve the evidence base upon which environmental decisions are made. He has a particular interest in approaches that can be used to support biological recorders (and citizen scientists more broadly) to produce more informative data. Simon works to achieve this through the development and evaluation of model-based adaptive sampling approaches, using existing data and models, including integrated species distribution modelling, to determine the highest priority places to record new data.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/simon-rolph/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/simon-rolph.com

10.  The National Amphibian and Reptile Monitoring Programme, Past, Present and Future, Karen Haysom (ARC) 

This talk will look at the work of the National Amphibian and Reptile Monitoring Programme. This programme forms a portfolio of surveys and projects that aim to generate data to guide the conservation of our thirteen native amphibian and reptile species and provide opportunities to observe these remarkable animals.  This talk will explain the rationale for the programme and feature selected highlights, challenges and future ambitions.

Karen is Species Programmes Manager at Amphibian and Reptile Conservation (ARC), with responsibility for overseeing the monitoring programme team.  She is an ecologist with over 25 years of experience working in the conservation sector and applied ecological research. Prior to joining ARC in 2017 her career has included work on ecosystem services, bat conservation and entomology.

Bluesky (Amphibian and Reptile Conservation Trust): https://bsky.app/profile/arc-trust.bsky.social  

11. BTO - TBC

12.  Harvestmen: Insights into an overlooked group with Meg Skinner (British Arachnological Society)

This talk will discuss the perks and pitfalls of recording British harvestmen, new species arrivals and experiences with recorders.

Meg grew up in the rural Cotswolds and has always had an interest in natural history. She studied Biodiversity Conservation at Nottingham Trent University, where she began recording invertebrates as a hobby. Meg has contributed to several wildlife conservation projects and currently works as an ecologist. She has a special interest in harvestmen and has been organising the BAS harvestmen recording scheme since 2019. She was elected to BAS Council in 2021.

Bluesky (Harvestman recording scheme): https://bsky.app/profile/britishspiders.bsky.social

Bluesky (Meg Skinner): https://bsky.app/profile/megabunus.bsky.social

13.  Freshwater Sponges, rarely recorded but common with Jonathan Briggs

In this talk we will hear more about the intriguing world of Freshwater Sponges. Despite being very common across Britain and Ireland, freshwater sponges are rarely recorded and mapping implies they are rare. However records of sponge-dependent feeders - sponge flies (Sisrya) and some species of Ceraclea caddisfly - show that some sponges must be quite common. Difficulties with collecting and identification are why sponges are rarely reported, possible ways forward are discussed.

Jonathan Briggs is a conversation ecologist with an industrial archaeological background. Now semi-retired and working on a few specialist projects including raising awareness of some neglected species and groups. He worked for British Waterways (now the Canal and River Trust) for over 20 years promoting better ecological management along the canal network. His independent work, over 20 years, is mostly on other habitats and species, particularly mistletoe biology and orchard habitats.

14. Biodiversity Data in Action or Chasing Unicorns with Deb Muscat (Association of Local Environmental Records Centres)

This session explores recent government initiatives aimed at making use of biodiversity data. Deb will look at whether these policies are working in practice and what ALERC is doing to help shape how your observations influence local and national decision-making.

Deb is a Director of the Association of Environmental Records Centres (ALERC) board in September 2019. Three years later she took on the role of National Coordinator, working to promote the importance of biodiversity data at both local and national levels. With many years spent recording for local wildlife and conservation organisations, Deb has more recently helped establish the Cumbria Invertebrate Group and is currently focussing her efforts on dung beetles and other large, shiny Coleoptera.

15. The price of everything and the value of nothing: why using AI is not the same as picture matching and keying out with Graeme Lyons

We are jumping feet first into using AI for all sorts of things, but outsourcing our picture matching to machines is likely to come at a price - one we won't until it is too late. I will discuss why the instant gratification of such apps is so tempting when compared to hard won knowledge acquired over decades but could well result in more people having a superficial interest in wildlife, while simultaneously reducing the number that have a deeper interest. 

Graeme Lyons has 20 years' experience working for nature conservation charities an ecologist, specialising in designing and implementing monitoring strategies across a wide range of taxa and providing habitat management advice based on these surveys. Overlapping with this, he has 17 years' experience as a freelance ecologist, now mainly a freelance entomologist. Graeme has focussed on habitat management and grazing on nature reserves, farms, as well as rewilding and renaturing projects. He is Sussex county recorder for spiders and true bugs (Heteroptera) and has been making biological records since he was 10. At the time of writing, he has made 362,573 records of 9799 and now typically makes 50,000+ records a year. A founder member of the pan-species listing community, in 2026 he published his first book 'Pan-species Listing: How to Become a Super-Naturalist'. Oh, and he likes sea slugs...and he's AuDHD! 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/graeme.lyons.7

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lyons.graeme/

Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/graemelyons.bsky.social

16.  Discovery and recovery: engaging young people in biological recording to support nature with Dr Victoria Burton (Natural history Museum, London)

The recording community has an opportunity to inspire future recorders by showing the real-world impact of their data. Using the National Education Nature Park as an example, we’ll explore how schools’ biological records feed into nature recovery actions, how learners can see their data in use, and how this process can turn eco-anxiety into empowerment. We’ll also discuss practical ways to connect recording with schools’ motivations - such as improving their grounds - while celebrating progress toward urban greening and biodiversity gains.

Victoria Burton is a postdoctoral researcher at the Natural History Museum, London. She works on the National Education Nature Park, designing research to assess biodiversity gains in schools. An active member of the UK biological recording community, she serves on natural history society committees and contributes to iRecord and iNaturalist.

LinkedIn: http://linkedin.com/soilscholar.bsky.social

Day 3: Saturday 9th May - Optional field trip to Saltwells National Nature Reserve