Curious about Nature
A Passion for Fieldwork
$46.99 USD
Part of Ecology, Biodiversity and Conservation
- Editors:
- Tim Burt, Durham University
- Des Thompson, Scottish Natural Heritage
- Date Published: February 2020
- availability: This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
- format: Adobe eBook Reader
- isbn: 9781108670968
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Notwithstanding the importance of modern technology, fieldwork remains vital, not least through helping to inspire and educate the next generation. Fieldwork has the ingredients of intellectual curiosity, passion, rigour and engagement with the outdoor world - to name just a few. You may be simply noting what you see around you, making detailed records, or carrying out an experiment; all of this and much more amounts to fieldwork. Being curious, you think about the world around you, and through patient observation develop and test ideas. Forty contributors capture the excitement and importance of fieldwork through a wide variety of examples, from urban graffiti to the Great Barrier Reef. Outdoor learning is for life: people have the greatest respect and care for their world when they have first-hand experience of it. The Editors are donating all royalties due to them to the environmental charity, The Field Studies Council, to support student fieldwork at the Council's field centres.
Read more- Reviews the history of fieldwork across the biological and geographical sciences
- Provides evidence of the importance of taking students out of the classroom
- Forty contributors provide a wide range of examples, all extolling the importance of being in the field
Reviews & endorsements
'This book amply delivers its strapline 'passion for fieldwork'. With its informal yet informed writing, this eclectic collection of practitioners and research findings provides something for everyone. There is no denying its central message, that field studies inspire and ignite curiosity and remain central to our guardianship of the planet.' Gill Miller, President of The Geographical Association, 2019–20
See more reviews'Reading this fascinating and eclectic book touched a chord within me as to how fieldwork, in all its guises, has influenced my thinking, my career, my life. It is a salient reminder of the importance of empirical evidence in decision-making at a time when we face some of the most horrifying environmental crises imaginable.' Sally Hayns, CEO of the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CEcol MCIEEM), UK
'Curious About Nature provides a glorious overview of how those scientific accomplishments were achieved.' Mark Cocker, The Spectator
'… Scientists across many disciplines know well the hallmarks of working in field conditions: making direct observations that often spur other research questions, weathering unpredictable conditions that keep us scientists on our toes, and - perhaps above all - feeding a hungry curiosity and passion to understand the natural world. In Curious About Nature, researchers from geoscience to paleoecology share their accounts of memorable, impactful field experiences. This volume focuses on personal accounts of researchers in field settings. Through this collection of essays, scientists share moments of memorable fieldwork and remind readers of the significance, challenges, and satisfaction that come with this type of work. … curiosity and passion are at the heart of fieldwork … This volume is appropriate for academics with a passion for fieldwork, most especially those in the geosciences … strength of this volume is that it reminds readers just how valuable, important, and rewarding field research can be.' Olivia Graham, The Quarterly Review of Biology
'Contributors address the need to train and encourage the next generation of scientists to conduct crucial environmental fieldwork that continues to expand our understanding of natural systems and recommend conservation initiatives. Chapters emphasize the value of observation, provide historical context, outline basic fieldwork components, list common fieldwork equipment, and advocate for modern interdisciplinary scientific endeavors, all while recounting details of entertaining and diverse case studies that transport readers to a variety of international field sites … Ultimately, the text captures the essence of fieldwork, and can be read cover-to-cover or selectively based on interest and needs. This book is a good fit for upper-division undergraduate or graduate courses and encourages hands-on field experiences. It will also be welcomed by any general reader interested in exploring the world.' S. McCarragher, Choice
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×Product details
- Date Published: February 2020
- format: Adobe eBook Reader
- isbn: 9781108670968
- contains: 139 b/w illus.
- availability: This ISBN is for an eBook version which is distributed on our behalf by a third party.
Table of Contents
Part I. Getting Curious about Nature:
1. Fieldwork and nature: observing, experimenting, and thinking Tim Burt and Des Thompson
2. The place of field studies in environmental science Michael Church
3. The history of field work in the geosciences Andrew S. Goudie
4. Pioneering fieldwork heroes in the life sciences Stephen Trudgill
5. The educational benefits of out-of-classroom learning Michael J. Reiss
Part II. Inspiring Fieldwork:
6. Understanding the decline of hen harriers on Orkney Arjun Amar
7. Rocky shores are not just for the able-bodied John Archer-Thomson
8. Life, love and longing to survive Alison Averis
9. Bringing palaeoecology alive Hilary H. Birks
10. Expedition botany / hobby botany John Birks
11. The Illisarvik drained-lake field experiment: a legacy of J. Ross Mackay Chris Burn
12. In praise of meteorology field courses Stephen Burt
13. Time, place and circumstance Tim Burt
14. Sampling fish diversity along a submarine mountain chain Ingvar Byrkjedal
15. Place and placefulness Richard Carrick
16. Ripples across the pond Stuart Corbridge
17. Fieldwork, field-friends, and the paradox of absence Douglas Davies
18. Ornithological fieldwork – essential and enjoyable Roy Dennis
19. Exploration science on the shore of the Arctic Ocean – a personal experience David J. A. Evans
20. Only connect – and make records Alastair Fitter
21. Studying patterned bogs David Goode
22. Mapping the rise of the animals: Cambrian bodies in the Sirius Pass, North Greenland David A. T. Harper
23. Evolution in the cellar: live-trapping wild house mice in the Italian Alps Heidi C. Hauffe
24. Reflections on 'babooning' Russell Hill
25. Bogs, birds and bones: interdisciplinary fieldwork on the Isle of RuÌm NNR Peter Higgins
26. Exploring world(s) down under Emily Husband
27. Experiments by nature – strength in realism Christian Körner
28. Big problems – small animals Charles J. Krebs
29. Soil survey: a field-based science Allan Lilly
30. A traveling ethnography of urban technologies Andrés Luque-Ayala
31. My date with the devil Peter Marren
32. Peregrinations through the heathlands and moorlands of Britain: an applied plant ecologist's tale Rob Marrs
33. The Maimai catchment New Zealand Jeff McDonnell
34. 'Writing in the field' – the importance of a local patch Stephen Moss
35. Looking but not seeing – how sketching in the field improves observational skills in science Stephen Mott
36. From rum to recording forest soils via the Soil Survey of Scotland – a life of fieldwork Andrew J. Nolan
37. In praise of bat detectors Kirsty Park
38. In search of Tawny Frogmouths Stuart Rae
39. Don't just sit there reading … Jane M. Reid
40. Fieldwork in the Australian bush – if it doesn't kill you, it'll convert you Lisa Robins
41. Field studies of behaviour and life-changing events Leigh W. Simmons
42. Sediment, wind turbines, and rhinos: ah, the life of a geographer! Mike Slattery
43. Conservation science – the need for a new paradigm founded on robust field evidence William J. Sutherland
44. The worst journey in the world Des Thompson
45. Field-less fieldwork in archaeology's digital age Andrew Tibbs
46. Reflections on a career with FSC Sue Townsend
47. My love-affair with rocks that fizz Maurice Tucker
48. In the footsteps of John Wesley Powell – restoring the sand bars in the Grand Canyon Alan Werritty
49. Connecting the next generation to their world Natalie White
50. Beyond the curriculum – wider conceptions of learning in the field Lewis Winks
Part III. Reflections and where next for field studies:
51. Conclusion: inspiring, curious and novel fieldwork Tim Burt and Des Thompson.
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