After an action packed first day of our annual full company event, day two at Staverton Park had a more gentle start, giving everyone time to socialise whilst loading up on breakfast (and caffeine!) ready for the day ahead.
Once everyone was prepared and raring to go, we opened up the main hall for our interactive leaning event, led by our Technical Excellence Groups (TEGs). These are a vital part of the learning and development provision at RSK Biocensus and include groups for:
- Aquatic Ecology
- Assessment & Appraisal (e.g. Habitats Regulations Assessment)
- Badgers
- Bats
- Birds
- Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG)
- Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREAAM)
- Digital (including Geographic Information Systems (GIS))
- Dormice
- Ecological Clerk of Works (ECOW)
- Habitats & Botany
- Herpetofauna
- Invertebrates
- “Other Mammals”
- Project Management
- Research
- Riparian Mammals
- Tree Climbing
Each led by in-house experts, the TEGS provide practical support and advice across a broad spectrum of topics within their specialism and are always there to answer any ad-hoc questions – no question too small – and to share interesting finds and success stories.
Due to our wide geographic spread, access to a TEG is usually online or via a call, so this event was an unmissable opportunity to talk to them in person or as a group, share ideas and perhaps be inspired to become a more active TEG member yourself. To facilitate this, the TEGS hosted individual tables within the space, sharing informative pieces, displaying interesting examples and holding absorbing activities, from quizzes to practical experiences.
It was clear within the room that our teams have immense passion and enthusiasm for their subjects, which rubbed off on everyone in attendance, proving to be one of the highlights of the event.
As the TEG table events wrapped up, colleagues separated into groups to catch-up and discuss what they had learnt so far. The Central Services Team even found time to have a full team meet-up in person, after a full year of only meeting online!
We then moved on to the day’s presentations, starting with Dr. Tim Graham, Associate Director at RSK Wilding. Tim spoke passionately about nature and restoration, his personal history in our profession, and presented a look to the future, both for him personally and for RSK Wilding.
He then provided us with an insight of what it means to be a Responsible Body (RSK Biocensus being one of the first four business to become a Responsible Body in February 2024), including some impressive figures relating to Conservation Covenants.
Our final formal presentation of the event was delivered by our Research and Development experts. Research and development is a key part of the RSK Biocensus ethos (see also the article here by our MD Tom Smith), so it is always fascinating to hear from Prof. Richard ‘Dez’ Delahay, Director at RSK Biocensus, and Danielle Sherman, our Senior Researcher.
Dez spoke about the importance of research and how it can be embedded into our daily practice. He outlined how research should influence the way in which we carry out our work and the potential issues when work is done without good supporting evidence of its effectiveness – a very thought-provoking presentation.
Dani then spoke more specifically about the research we are currently carrying out and supporting here at RSK Biocensus. She provided updates on the progress being made by four of our PhD Students: Amanda Awbi, Maya Griffin, Brianna Pickstone and Debs Allbrook – read more about their research here. She then introduced our most recent PhD student, Hal Shepherd, an experienced ecologist who spoke with passion about his Artificial Badger Sett Monitoring Projects research project. Although artificial setts have become almost routine practice, there is little published evidence on their performance and long-term use by badgers. Hal’s research hopes to create a more robust evidence base for the use of artificial badger setts as a mitigation practice, improving outcomes for both development projects and badger populations.
To close the event, we heard again from our Managing Director, Tom Smith, who again spoke with enthusiasm about how successful RSK Biocensus has been to date and looked forward to an excellent year ahead. He was, as always, very appreciative of his people, recognising that everyone plays their part and it is the people as well as the projects that make this such a great place to work.
This year’s event was a huge success, both for our teams and for the company as a whole, and we are looking forward to getting together again next year!