Welcome to the blog, friends! Here you’ll find posts about my floodplain meadow research, science communication and digital design.
Find out more about the inspiration for this blog over on the About page.
Accessibility in #SciArt and #DataViz
I’ve recently discovered the excellent Data Viz Today podcast with Alli Torban and was delighted to discover episode 63 with Frank Elavsky on how to integrate accessibility into DataViz with tons of great advice and resources. As a neurodivergent scientist and visual communicator this issue is close to my heart and deserves considered attention in…
Voices from the Floodplain: a poem
This free verse poem is composed from the words of many floodplain farmers who took part in interviews and questionnaires as part of my Hay Days PhD research project into the management of floodplain meadows for sustainable farming. Arranged and read by me, Vicky Bowskill, and presented along with a montage of images from project…
Book review: Meadow, the intimate bond between people, place and plants
Author: Iain Parkinson. Photography: Jim HoldenKew Publishing (5 May 2022)ISBN-10 : 1842467476, ISBN-13 : 978-1842467473 This book is truly a delight – and I’m not just saying that as I have the privilege of being included in it’s pages, perched atop a bale of sweet meadow hay! I was just a…
Of hares and harebells
Hares and harebells are both iconic species of our meadows that are inextricably linked with our agricultural heritage and our cultural landscape. One of my favourite meadow mammals is the European brown hare (Lepus europaeus). Over the centuries we’ve woven a rich mythology around this enigmatic creature and it’s always enchanting to see them on…
Contemplating dandelions
This month I’ve been thinking about dandelions. April has brought with it plenty of sunshine and cheerful dandelions have popped up pretty much everywhere. I have to admire this tenacious little plant. Often dismissed as a weed, it’s a thriving ecological and medicinal powerhouse. One of the first flowers to come out in spring, its…
Mapping your science stories
This blog was first posted by the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) here. Everything happens somewhere in time and space, and a sense of place can provide important context when communicating your environmental stories. There are many types of map; which one you choose to use can affect how influential your communication…
Working with seasonal growth on floodplain meadows
This blog first appeared on the Floodplain Meadows Partnership website here. Our traditional floodplain hay meadows are a haven for biodiversity, but they are also part of our agricultural landscape and depend on the annual cycle of haymaking and aftermath grazing to maintain their value. These meadows show characteristic seasonal patterns of growth and flowering…
Webinar: Science Communication for Ecologists and Environmental Managers
This webinar was created in collaboration with my former colleagues at the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Managers. It formed part of my CENTA work placement and was a thoroughly enjoyable experience. You can find a recording of the webinar below and a pdf of the slides with hyperlinks to all the resources here.…
Hung, Drawn and Quartered: a meadow season
Here endeth the second field season of my PhD, researching some fabulous floodplain meadows in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. I was fortunate to be able to complete a full field season this year after being curtailed by lockdowns in 2020. This year my research has been hung, drawn and quartered, which wasn’t nearly as painful as…
Burnet and Blue
Burnet: A most precious herb, the continual use of it preserves the body in health and the spirit in vigour.Culpeper Great burnet (Sanguisorba officianalis) is a stately denizen of our floodplain meadows – a larger cousin to the more diminutive salad burnet (Sanguisorba minor) that you might find in upland calcareous grasslands or as a…
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Vicky Bowskill 