Touch Tanks event at Lough Hyne Marine Nature Reserve

On Saturday 19^th August around 300 people attended the annual Touch Tank event at Lough Hyne run by the UCC School of BEES Lough Hyne Research Team. Prof Rob McAllen and his colleagues from the School of BEES and the ERI collected common animals from Whirlpool Cliff and talked about the biology of the different crabs, starfish, urchins collected amongst a number of other animals. It was fantastic to see such a great turnout for the two hour event and very encouraging that so many were keen to learn about the marine life around our coasts that are usually hidden from view.

It was also great to see former and current staff and students from the School of BEES (and ZEPS before it) with their families supporting the event. Very special thanks to Prof Ruth Ramsay, Luke Harman, Maria McGuiness, Valerio Micaroni, Francesca Strano, Val Hickey, Bernard Picton and Terri Kearney for all their help before, during and after the event.

Plant Detectives at the Ellen Hutchins Festival

The ERI was delighted to sponsor the Ellen Hutchins Festival once again this year, supporting the Plant Detectives event. Families discovered the secrets of plants and their leaves through a self-guided adventure within the canopy setting of Future Forests using trail sheets, hand lenses and microscopes to find and document nature’s treasures - a fun way to explore plants, leaves and stems, finding out about different shapes and types of leaf, how leaves work, and ways in which we use stems and leaves.