What should be on the BCT training menu for 2018?

Naomi Webster (Training and Conferences Manager)

Having thoroughly enjoyed my first 8 months as Training and Conferences Manager for BCT, I am now facing the exciting, but also rather intimidating prospect of developing the training programme for 2018. Rather like a chef facing an enticingly stocked larder, I have a veritable smorgas board of batty training choices; a great range of informative and engaging courses that can be delivered by highly experienced experts. But which should I select for the 2018 menu? And where should we serve them up?

With several new dishes added to this season’s menu, I will certainly be monitoring bookings and feedback to see how they are received. The new Bearing Witness for Wildlife training will be taking place in London on 09 November, for anyone wanting to improve their skills in recognising and reporting wildlife crime or when acting as a witness, and the Kaleidoscope Pro course will be taking place in Swindon on 17 October and Leeds on 10 November led by Wildlife Acoustics’ Paul Howden-Leach.

Some familiar topics have already made it onto the list with Bat Ecology and Conservation, Using Bat Detectors and Surveying for Bats all offering a great foundation for ecologists. But how about more experienced ecologists wanting to develop their skills further? Should we be offering you more opportunities to engage with Advanced Bat Survey Techniques? How confident are you at writing reports, surveying trees and using automatic species identification software?

Which skills would you like to develop further and where in the country would you like to see more training? I’m open to suggestions, and where possible, I will try to incorporate them into next year’s plans. And don’t forget, if it’s more convenient we can also offer in-house training, tailoring a course to your company and training needs! Email me to find out more: nwebster@bats.org.uk