2022 NBN Awards for Biological Recording

  • Post category:Recorders

The National Biodiversity Network (NBN) is a partnership of a wide range of data sharing, research, and conservation organisations and the biodiversity information available on the NBN Atlas shapes decision making and conservation policy in the UK.  

As a LERC partner to the NBN, Merseyside BioBank plays a key role in ensuring those biodiversity data are used to influence decisions and conservation policy in our area in much the same way. We also work to ensure that our local recording network, be it natural history organisations, individual biological recorders, or the wider citizen science community, are supported in their biological recording activity and that their data are used to greatest benefit for biodiversity.  

That is why we see the NBN Awards as a great opportunity to recognise the real and positive impact that those individuals and organisations are making for wildlife and why we are incredibly pleased to see that our own Merseyside naturalist Steve McWilliam achieved a joint runner-up position for the 2022 NBN Award for Terrestrial Biological Recording.  

Many of Steve’s achievements have already been outlined in the nomination but it is well worth highlighting that his lifetime of activity has had far reaching and immensely positive impacts; directly improving our knowledge of wildlife in Merseyside so informing local conservation efforts. Even more fundamentally, the establishment and support of groups in our area such as the Lancashire & Cheshire Entomological Society, Cheshire rECOrd and Merseyside BioBank itself. Steve has helped to build and support a framework for biological recording across Cheshire and South Lancashire which now provides knowledge and support for many more people, while continuing to inspire through that continued, prolific, activity! 

As of today (10th November 2022) Steve has shared, openly, 96,114 observations of 3,538 taxa. He has also supported the wider recording community with 134,184 species identification ‘assists’! (figures using iNaturalist alone). 

Steve has rightfully been placed into the spotlight in the 2022 awards, but we would also very much like to say a special thank you to Susan Marley. As with Steve, Susan has been an amazing supporter of MBB and biological recording in the local area. She has supported and accompanied Steve in much of his biological recording activity, particularly since I have known her, and in that time, she has become somewhat of a prolific biological recorder herself

It has been a pleasure personally to see her develop as a naturalist and recorder, especially her interest in and of identification of Bryophytes! Though I know Steve will also be particularly proud of her willingness to explore even the most obscure areas of natural history (Rusts & Mildews anyone?).  

Susan very much follows Steve’s own mantra, something which we could all do well to bear in mind: “If you don’t know it is there, then you don’t know when it is gone.”