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Teaching natural history in undergraduate biology courses

There is a need to reintroduce natural history into biology teaching. Natural history has disappeared from the vocabulary of British biology – what little remains has been disguised with names such as ‘biodiversity’ or ‘animal and plant diversity’. Natural history brings together a range of skills and knowledge in animals, plants, geology, land use and meteorology. It requires that skills are developed for working in the environment in a manner that is enjoyable, safe and has respect for the organisms being observed. Natural history modules would help restore the balance of biology degrees, which have now become very cell biology orientated. An understanding of natural history would help support studies in other areas of biology. For example, a familiarity with farmland birds would help students understand the concerns about crops which have been genetically modified to make them herbicide resistant. Students might see wild Cepaea and Drosophila, which would be relevant to Mendelian genetics courses, and observing agricultural crops and livestock could help demonstrate the importance of genetic diversity and artificial selection. Each year I lead undergraduate field visits to a wetland site in London. I find that students gain considerable pleasure from the opportunity to observe wintering waterfowl, particularly as this may be the first time they see birds through telescopes and binoculars. Positive comments from the students make me ask whether including more ‘whole’ animal and plant courses in undergraduate degrees might increase the appeal of studying biology. An important skill for a naturalist is to approach, observe and then move away from an animal without disturbing it – that is, operating with due consideration to the environment. Most field visits are made by coach, but this has a major disadvantage in that students arrive in groups of about 50. A wintering bird can be energetically vulnerable and being forced to waste time and energy flying away from 50 students is not helpful. I teach on the edge of London and use the public transport system to ferry students to and from field sites. This allows me to arrange for students to attend in much smaller groups, at different times during the day, and causes less disturbance to local wildlife. A naturalist needs to be able to enjoy being out in the open and to travel safely. Many students are inadequately prepared for outdoor activities because they come from an urbanised indoor background. This can both contribute to their pleasure at entering a new environment and to an increased risk during a field course. I think we need to address a basic skills gap in preparing students for a field course. Outdoor skills could be introduced into core skills modules offered by many universities. Students would enjoy I n m y V i e w ...