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You won’t know until you try: taster days in the UK Price/dates/status Our taster days were honoured in The Independent on Sunday’s "Best Holiday for Green-Minded Travellers" list. Our taster days were honoured in a book entitled "Once in a lifetime" (Einmal im Leben) by well-known German travel publisher Merian as one of "100 unforgettable travel adventures" (100 unvergessliche Reiseabenteuer). Taster days are just what they say they are: days that will give you a unique insight into what it’s like to be in the field with Biosphere Expeditions assisting scientists with wildlife research and conservation. They are set amongst the beautiful scenery of the UK’s National Parks, where you will be part of a small team, alongside a nature guide and your expedition leader. You will discover expedition and wildlife research and conservation skills such as working with a map, GPS and compass, collecting important animal data, reading animal tracks and signs, using telemetry equipment and wildlife camera traps. You will also learn about the National Park you are in, its fauna and flora, history and the conservation work going on inside.   PRICE = Taster day contribution £65 per person. We will credit £50 back to you if you subsequently join one of our expeditions or projects. Dates & times The 2010 taster days have now all run. 2011 taster day dates in autumn 2010. New Forest National Park: 20 June 2010 Broads National Park: 4 July and 11 July 2010 Taster days are always on a Sunday from 09.00 to 17.00. Status Red: Taster days of status red have no spaces available (or have already been to the field). If a taster day is full already, you may have the option of going on a waiting list. Weather expected during taster day What can we say – British  . Come prepared for anything. Team size Up to 15 team members + 1 nature guide + 1 expedition leader. Skills & prerequisites required None. You don't need to be a scientist or have any special qualifications - everyone can take part and there are no age limits whatsoever. Can laypeople really be of help to serious research & conservation projects? Fitness level required None. If you are healthy and enjoy the outdoors, you’ll be fine. Will it be for me or am I too old/young/unfit? Meeting point Always an easy to find location right next to or inside the National Park. What about carbon neutrality? Who makes my travel arrangements? Miscellaneous The taster day does not include catering, so please make sure you bring your own drinks and a lunch pack. Those who would like to can also join staff at a nearby pub or restaurant after the end of the taster day.  Details Each taster day follows the same basic plan of creating a mini expedition. Just like on expedition there is a meeting point that you have to get to under your own steam (and where you will meet at 09.00 on Sunday morning) to start your taster day. And just like on expedition we’ll start with introductions, a short safety talk and a brief overview of what’s to come. The rough plan for the day is as follows 08.30   Expedition leader at the meeting point 08.45   Participants at the meeting point 09.00   Start of the taster day (please be punctual!) 09.00-09.30   Overview, introduction of participants and staff 09.30-12.30   Safety talk, Introduction to research techniques and equipment such as GPS, compass, map, hand-held radios, camera traps, radio telemetry equipment, data sheets and data collection techniques, recognising animal tracks and signs, etc. Trying out the equipment. 12.30-13.00   Lunch (bring your own lunch pack), pack up equipment, introduction to National Park 13.00-16.00   Field walk or boat/canoe expedition, where possible telemetry work 16.00-17.00   Expeditions presentation, questions, farewells Afterwards   Those who would like to can join staff at a nearby pub or restaurant Once in the field with your expedition leader and a nature guide, you will practice the skills learned in the morning. You’ll be locating radio telemetry transmitters, setting up camera traps, doing a bit of navigating and learning how to recognise animal signs & tracks and record them just like a conservation scientist or a team member on expedition would. Your expedition leader will be your link to our expeditions, so if you find a fox track, for example, your expedition leader may use this as an opportunity to talk to you about wolf tracks on expedition and how to record and measure them. Your nature guide will create local relevancy and tell you about the local flora & fauna, the National Park and its conservation work, history and other interesting historical and social facts. By the end of the day you should know a lot more about the local fauna & flora and have a good idea what it’s like to be on expedition with Biosphere Expeditions. National Park locations Meet at 08.45 at Minstead Hall, Minstead, near Lyndhurst SO43 7FX. The New Forest is an area of southern England, which includes the largest remaining tracts of unenclosed pasture land, heathland and old-growth forest. The New Forest habitat covers south west Hampshire and some of south Wiltshire. Like much of England, the New Forest was originally forested, but parts were cleared for cultivation from the Stone Age and into the Bronze Age. The New Forest was created as a royal forest in 1079 by William the Conqueror for the hunting of (mainly) deer. It was first recorded as "Nova Foresta" in the Domesday Book in 1086. Meet at 08.45 at the car park of Hickling Broad National Nature Reserve of the Norfolk Wildlife Trust. The Broads are a network of mostly navigable rivers and lakes (known locally as broads) in the English counties of Norfolk and Suffolk. The Broads are Britain's largest protected wetland and third largest inland waterway, with the status of a national park. The area is also home to some of the rarest plants and animals in the UK. The Broads Authority was set up in 1989, with responsibility for conservation, planning, recreation and waterways. For many years broads were regarded as natural features of the landscape. It was only in the 1960s that Dr Joyce Lambert showed that they were artificial features, the effect of flooding on early peat excavations. The Romans first exploited the rich peat beds of the area for fuel, and in the Middle Ages the local monasteries began to excavate the "turbaries" (peat diggings) as a business, selling fuel to Norwich and Great Yarmouth. Then the sea levels began to rise, and the pits began to flood. Despite the construction of wind pumps and dykes, the flooding continued and resulted in the typical broads landscape of today, with its reed beds, grazing marshes and wet woodlands. Maps     Google map of all Biosphere Expeditions study sites, expedition bases, assembly points, office locations, etc.   Pictures In the New Forest. Alder trees by the Beaulieu river near Fawley ford. In the Broads. In the Broads. Learning about navigation. Learning about navigation. Learning about navigation and telemetry. Land Rover on its way to a drop-off point in the forest.   On a field walk. On a field walk. Which way was North again? Learning how to use spotting scopes and binoculars. Trying out radio telemetry. Success! The very rare British lesser white tiger (Felis novaforesta) has been located by its telemetry signal .   Learning how to set up a camera trap.  Learning how to set up a camera trap. Learning how to set up a camera trap. Learning how to read tracks & record data. Trying out radio communication. Talking to a nature guide. Getting ready for a canoe expedition. On a canoe expedition. On a canoe expedition using a telemetry receiver. More images on Biosphere Expeditions'    Press The minibreak with meaning  View article 2.48 Mb This year I promise... 10 fun ways to keep your resolve on track   View article 106.95 Kb Briefing The taster day briefing contains detailed information on all our taster days. Briefings are provided as pdf documents and you must provide a name, country of residence and valid e-mail address to be able to download one. You can access briefings via the Download Centre. Join Go on, you know you want to