In the early research stages of my MA, we used fieldwork as a means of immersion and place-based research. Fieldwork was used as a way to engage more deeply with local biospheres and living systems to expand our ecological literacy and understanding of place.

My primary fieldwork activity was shadowing Neil Mahon from the Centre of Landscape Regeneration as he conducted biodiversity surveys on farms and nature reserves across the Cambridgeshire Fens to understand the impact of regenerative agriculture on biodiversity. Neil set a series of pitfall traps and conducted dragonfly transects. His early research shows a similar number of beetles on farms as nature reserves but with a greater variety of species found on reserves. Less intensively managed farms also typically supported a greater diversity. Shadowing this research was an opportunity to see land on farms and nature reserves in detail that are otherwise difficult to get this level of access to. Through the experience, I learnt a lot more than I anticipated, particularly about the positive impacts farming can have on certain species. Although, this perception may be slightly biased as most of the farm sites we visited were practicing some form of regenerative agriculture.

In seeing the Fens through the eyes of an entomologist, I’ve found myself focusing much more on details (micro) when out and about rather than just the bigger landscape level features (macro). I saw Four-Spotted Chasers, Hairy Hawkers and a variety of damselflies. When re-joining the researcher later in the summer, the land was noticeably different. Crops had grown and reserves were full of Ruddy Darters, Brown Hawker and Southern Hawker dragonflies.