The accumulation of hundreds of National Plant Monitoring Scheme plots across the UK, Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands is an incredible resource for climate change researchers, and a new paper out today in the Journal of Applied Ecology attempts to quantify this for the first time.

We're really excited to introduce a new member of our support team, Karen Fisher who has recently joined as Volunteer Support Officer. Karen joins us with a wealth of experience supporting volunteers and has great ideas for expanding our volunteer community.

Biological recording has long involved some process of checking or verifying the correctness of an occurrence by the community or scheme interested in the records. There are several ways in which this is done within the NPMS and the first step on this journey is with you, the recorder!

 At the start of Autumn 2023, the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) appointed a new Scientific Officer who will oversee the National Plant Monitoring Scheme (NPMS) in Northern Ireland; Emma Mulholland.  Read our conversation and welcome Emma to the scheme!