Winners of the NBN Awards for Wildlife Recording 2024 Revealed as UK’s Top ‘Nature Heroes’

Winners of 2024 UK NBN Awards for Wildlife Recording Announced

The winners of the highly anticipated 2024 UK NBN Awards for Wildlife Recording have been announced at a ceremony held on Thursday, 21 November 2024 during the annual National Biodiversity Network Conference. The event took place at the Merseyside Maritime Museum in Liverpool, and was attended by distinguished guests and wildlife enthusiasts from all over the country.

The NBN Awards for Wildlife Recording, now in its ninth year, recognises and celebrates the exceptional contributions made by adults and young people in the field of wildlife recording and data sharing. These contributions are vital in helping to improve our understanding of the UK’s biodiversity and supporting conservation efforts.

This year, there were seven award categories, open to individuals of different age groups and organisations. The winners were selected based on their outstanding achievements and their dedication towards wildlife recording and data sharing.

Among the winners were Roger Morris from Surrey and Stuart Ball from Cambridgeshire, who jointly won the prestigious NBN Lifetime Achievement Award 2024. The duo has been the joint scheme organisers for the Hoverfly Recording Scheme since 1990 and has significantly contributed to the scheme’s growth and success. They published a provisional hoverfly atlas in 2000, followed by a full atlas in 2011, and have continued to collate a large number of records from various recorders.

Regarding their achievement, Roger Morris stated, “Conservation science needs robust datasets, and therefore the objective of the scheme is not only to encourage high levels of recording but also to ensure that recording is comprehensive.”

Stuart Ball added, “I have been interested in capturing, storing, and analyzing records for close to 50 years, including being involved in designing, writing, and supporting recording systems and methods of analysis. I have also had a long-term interest in automating identification, such as multi-matching keys and image recognition.”

The inaugural NBN Verifier’s Award 2024 was jointly won by Stuart Roberts from Wiltshire and Matt Smith from Berkshire. This pair has been part of the verification team for the Bees Wasps & Ants Recording Society (BWARS) and has made a significant contribution to the verification of aculeate Hymenoptera on iRecord. They also founded the UK Bees, Wasps, and Ants group on Facebook, which now has over 28,000 members, and provides guidance on identification, recording, and natural history to its members.

Regarding the award, Stuart Roberts stated, “I am passionately interested in bringing in new enthusiasts and recorders alike. I like to help volunteer recorders feel that they are part of a bigger world and have always believed that the value of data is in its use rather than its mere possession.”

Matt Smith added, “We encourage new recorders who have had their photos identified via Facebook to post them on iRecord so they are not ‘lost’. If we ask them to submit their records, we need to verify them to encourage more citizen science recording while keeping the data quality of the verified records high.”

The NBN Young Person’s Award 2024 was won by 18-year-old Ben Rumsby from Essex, who has been a dedicated member of various wildlife organisations for over 11 years. He has been a registered volunteer for RSPB for over three years and volunteers every Saturday surveying birds on site. He has also volunteered with Essex Wildlife Trust and regularly conducts glow worm surveys.

Regarding his passion for biological recording, Ben Rumsby stated, “What excites me about biological recording is the thrill of how each recording session is different and what you might find. Since becoming a volunteer, I have enjoyed being able to contribute vital data towards the site and nationwide.”

The NBN Newcomer Award 2024 was won by Charlotte Shenkin from Jersey, who first became interested in fungi in October 2022. She has recorded over 900 fungi specimens and has added many new species to the Jersey Biodiversity Centre database. She also found a UK-first in July 2023, which was confirmed by DNA and is officially the 154th species of Russula in the UK.

Regarding her achievement, Charlotte Shenkin stated, “I’m irresistibly drawn to surveying and recording fungi because it’s like there is an exciting treasure hunt on, 24/7, all year round! Finding and recording fungi gives me the perfect blend of mindful meditation, immersion in nature, scientific curiosity, collecting data, and knowledge, and ultimately the enjoyment of sharing that knowledge with others.”

The NBN Award for Marine Wildlife Recording 2024 was won by Charlotte Bolton from Dorset, who has been recording marine wildlife for over sixteen years and has overseen the collection, collation, and quality control of over 300,000 records. She has also recorded over 25 species of fungi that were previously unseen in Jersey and has sent rare samples to Kew