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Moss Safari Monthly 5: Witnessing the World in Moss
Wednesday 1st July 2026 The fifth and final Moss Safari Monthly arrived in June, bringing this little series of live microscope safaris to a close. For five months, we have returned to moss, squeezed out a few drops of water, placed them onto a dimple slide, and looked for the small lives moving through it.…
Moss Safari at Leechpool Primary School: moss, microscopes and a memorable slide
Monday 8 June 2026, 9-12 am I had the pleasure of taking Moss Safari to Leechpool Primary School for a full morning of moss, microscopes and microscopic animals. Across the morning, three groups of about 20 pupils took part in the Moss Safari experience. After an introductory assembly, each group completed three linked sessions: a…
Moss Safari Monthly #4: Knowing Our Limits
Summary of live session held on Wednesday 20 May 2026, 7-8 PM BST One of the things I love most about Moss Safari is that the more I learn, the more I realise how much I don’t know. That was the theme of our fourth Moss Safari Monthly session: Knowing Our Limits. Not just the…
BOOK REVIEW: Start to identify mosses by Faith Anstey
Anstey, F. (2026) Start to Identify Mosses. Wildflower Study. ISBN 9780993493386 A note on links: Some product links are Amazon affiliate links. If you choose to buy through them, Moss Safari may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. This helps support the project, including free resources, events and microscope activities. As…
Online Live Moss Safari Captures the Imagination
Event Summary U3A Science & Technology Group, Tuesday 12 May 2026 2-3PM I met Tanya Dempster through the Association of Science Education, she is also an experienced and passionate science educator. Tanya invited me to do an online live Moss Safari for her U3A Science & Technology Group and so I delivered my introduction to…
Reflections on the Storrington White Stork and Nature Festival
Event report: Saturday 23 May 2026 On the hottest day of the year so far, I spent the day at this delightful event with my two enthusiastic volunteers: Jude Dean, an undergraduate chemistry student at the University of Sussex, and Andrew Sayers, a postgraduate MSci student at the University of Brighton. Laura Vaughan-Hirsch, the White…
Moss Safari on World Microscopy Day: Five Ways of Seeing a Rotifer
Sunday 12 April 2026 The Quekett Microscopical Society I explained that how we understand what we see is shaped by our assumptions. I started with a situation where a member of the public at the New Scientist Live event last year had asked me “What are tardigrades for?” My immediate response was that they are…
Moss Safari Monthly #3: Everything Is Connected
Wednesday 22 April 2026 April’s Moss Safari Monthly session took a step back from individual organisms and asked a bigger, more powerful question: What happens when we look at moss as a whole ecosystem? The theme for this session was simple but profound: everything is connected. From Individuals to Interactions In previous sessions, we met…
Celebrating 150 years of Natural History in Northamptonshire: Moss Safari wows
Tuesday 14 April 2026 Almost a year ago I spoke to John Smith, president of the Northamptonshire Natural History Society (NNHS) when he was making plans for the 150 years celebration of the society. We decided a virtual visit from me followed by a practical session led by the society volunteers would work. So on…
Queer Eye on the Glass Slide
Microscopy brings together people from all walks of life. Through this hobby, and through developing Moss Safari, I have met many remarkable individuals. A few weeks ago, I attended the Natural History Queer Symposium at The Linnean Society of London. The experience helped crystallise many of my thoughts about moss, microscopy and how we interpret…
Moss Safari and T-Level Animal Management: Applications of Cryptobiosis
Having several experienced using Moss Safari for primary and secondary levels I was excited to apply it to post-16 T-levels. In this case it was for a group of Animal Management students at Plumpton College in East Sussex and we focused on body systems and the applications of cryptobiosis research to animal management. This blog…
Moss Safari’s ‘sell out’ lunchtime event for the Linnean Society
Wednesday 8 April 2026 The Linnean Society is the oldest learned society devoted to the science of natural history. So it was a privilege to be able to showcase an online Moss Safari live event as part of their lunchtime lecture series. I was delighted to hear that we had over 400 sign ups, a…
Moss Safari Monthly. March – Watching what happens
Wednesday 25th March 2026 Here in Woodingdean, Brighton it was a day of all weathers: we had rain, sleet, snow, hail and sunshine in just the afternoon. I collected the moss cushion that we are studying from my garden, where I had left it last month. It was surprisingly dry. Although it had been cold…
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