The newly formed St Catharine’s Nature Society organised a trip to the Cambridge University Botanic Garden for a group of 15 students at the end of last term. The focus of the visit was a freshwater invertebrates demonstration led by Tereza Maxerová, a second-year Natural Sciences undergraduate. The demonstration had a good turnout from a diverse range of subjects including Natural Sciences, Engineering, Psychological & Behavioural Sciences and Classics.
After walking together to the Botanic Garden, Tereza demonstrated the most effective way of using a sieve to filter the silt at the bottom of ponds and streams, before the students began to scour the ponds across the Garden for invertebrates.
The group in the Botanic Garden (credit: Anna Čepelová)
Brychan Thomas, a second-year Veterinary Medicine undergraduate and President of the Nature Society, commented:
“Tereza helped us to identify dragonfly and mayfly larvae, isopods, water beetles and caddisfly larvae. The caddisflies were of particular interest to the group – many families, including those of the larvae that we found, use silk to bind whatever material they find into a cylindrical protective case around themselves. Our caddisflies appeared to mainly be using plant material, making their accommodation bright green.”
Tereza added, "I would like to thank Brychan for helping me to organise the walk and all the students from Catz who came along! Fieldwork is a great way to introduce Biology to people from other fields, and for me, it was what initially inspired me to study Biology and Natural Sciences. So, it was a great pleasure to share something which has always been close to my heart with others!"
Examining the cylindrical homes of caddisflies (credit: Anna Čepelová)
Tereza helping St Catharine's students identify invertebrates (credit: Anna Čepelová)
The new society was started by Brychan in Michaelmas Term to connect with other students interested in nature, and to try and make the natural world more accessible to for members of the College who might not otherwise get involved.
Brychan added, “The Society is slowly growing and hopefully will continue to do so into the future. Support from the College for student societies enables us to purchase equipment such as a UV lamp for attracting moths and to provide refreshments at our events. Upcoming activities for Easter Term include bug hotel building and bat detecting – keep an eye out for the termcard to see the dates! Looking further ahead, we hope to participate in wildlife surveys and to work with the gardeners to set up a camera to record the activity of wildlife, particularly birds and squirrels, across the College’s sites.”
Cambridge University students can enter free of charge by showing their University ID card. Children (0–16 years old inclusive) can also access for free but must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
St Catharine’s has a corporate membership of the Botanic Garden, which has been made possible thanks to a donation. Reusable membership cards can be requested from the Duty Porter by staff and Fellows who may take up to five family members or friends with them (subject to availability).
Note that pond dipping is not allowed in the garden except by prior arrangement with the garden's teams, and that groups of 15 or more visitors must book a week in advance.
