If you’ve been paying close attention to the ARKive Education pages recently you may well have noticed that a new logo has appeared beside a couple of the modules in the 7-11 age group.

This new icon signals that ‘Adaptation: Design a Species’ and ‘Marvellous Mini-beasts’ are now both CREST Star accredited. This means they have been assessed and found to meet all of the required criteria for accreditation so can now count towards a recognised award here in the UK, the CREST SuperStar Award.

During the accreditation process we have been working closely with the CREST Star Investigators National Programme Coordinator, Dylan O’Sullivan, so who better to help us explain the ins and outs of CREST Star Investigators.

ARKive: So what is CREST Star Investigators?

Dylan: CREST Star Investigators is a UK-wide award scheme that enables primary school children to solve science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) problems through practical investigation. The activities focus on a mixture of practical activities and discussion, and encourage children to work independently of adults; it’s all about hands-on fun investigation. They are designed to be used primarily outside of lessons and you don’t need a science background to run them which means they are great for clubs and home schooling; they do also have clear curriculum links and many teachers use them for practical lessons.

ARKive: What does your role involve?

Dylan: As National Programme Coordinator my role is to develop the programme to reach as many schools and children as possible. The main focus has been a move towards an online membership resource which will allow us to deliver more activities at an affordable cost to schools, and to provide other benefits to member schools; this will happen in September 2012. The other area we have been developing is our strategic partnerships; these fall into 2 main categories: sponsorship of new activities, and our rapidly expanding activity accreditation partnership programme which has grown to include some of the UK’s top science learning centres and online providers.

ARKive is one of a number of organisations that have accredited activities – including the Science Museum, Planet Science and @Bristol.

ARKive: What do you look for in potential partner organisations?

Dylan: Our main criteria for accrediting activities is that they must fit our guiding principles for CREST Star. Activities must offer the children the opportunity to:

• solve a relevant, science-based problem, set within a context
• work in pairs or small groups, independently of adults
• take part in practical, hands-on science activities
• think and talk about science, during the activity and when sharing their ideas.

We want to encourage children and educators to take science learning beyond the classroom, and to develop a love for the science that is all around us.

ARKive: What was it about Wildscreen’s resources that led you to contact us about becoming a partner?

Dylan: We love Wildscreen’s resources. The ARKive website is a great interactive source of wildlife and conservation information, and its strong visual focus makes it ideal for younger learners. The education resources are well thought out and very engaging, as well as a lot of fun. The accredited adaptation activities really get learners involved and thinking about how life evolves and adapts, and what could be a more fun way to learn about evolution and adaptation than designing your own species! We also firmly believe in the aims of Wildscreen and the ARKive project, so we are very happy to give our support to the organisation.

Our accredited resources can be found on our education page, along with our three newest modules – Nocturnal Animals, What is an Endangered Species? and Sizing Up Species.

For more information on the CREST Star Investigators visit the British Science Association website.

Laura Sutherland, ARKive Education Officer

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Twitter is one of our favourite online hangouts as it allows us to connect with over 225 million users from all over the world to learn about endangered species and of course share ARKive’s awesome photos, videos and facts.

In just 140 characters, ARKive can take you to the best wildlife images, introduce you to some of the most obscure species out there, as well bringing you the latest conservation stories. It’s a great way to find out what the ARKive project is all about and it’s the perfect place to connect with us!

Tweet, Tweet

We always have something to tweet about!  Below are some recent ARKive tweets:

 “Check out @world_wildlife’s species of the day http://ow.ly/9sORQ“

 ”Some birds can’t take the heat! New study learning what avian species are the most vulnerable to climate change  http://ow.ly/9svHj“

 ”Take a break and find out if you’re a #climatechange champ! http://t.co/kHkcQPjh  #climateweek”

As you can see, we like making a noise about all things wildlife, but let’s not forget about the original tweeters – our feathered friends. So why not explore the birds on ARKive and tune your ears into the twittering of the charismatic robin in Europe, the tui in New Zealand or the prothonotary warbler in the US.

Robin singing on branch

Retweet (RT)

Like a tweet? Want to share it with your friends? Get in on the action by simply retweeting your favourite ARKive tweets!

Repeating information is not uncommon in the animal kingdom. Many Passeriformes pick up, or imitate vocalisations of other species – a behaviour the European starling is famed for. Another famous example of reiterating information can be found in the grey wolf. Within a pack, when one wolf starts to howl, others will rapidly respond with howls of varying lengths and pitch in to form a ‘chorus howl’. This may reinforce social bonds, bring the wolves together and communicate with other packs. Perhaps rather than ‘retweet’ an ARKive tweet, you can ‘rehowl’ one instead!

Eurasian wolf pack howling

Follow us!

African elephants are famed for their ability to follow a leader – an old female known as the matriarch leads a family of closely related females, taking on the role of protecting the group and sourcing food and water.

If you follow us on Twitter you can not only keep up to date with latest news from the ARKive team but you can also get involved by responding to our tweets.

African elephant herd walking in line

African elephants walking

What’s the most social species on ARKive?

Join our search to find the most social species on ARKive. Visit the species you think is the most social and press ‘tweet’. The species with the most new tweets will win the title of ‘Chirpiest Species’ in our Social Species Contest. Who will win? Tweet to ensure your favourite is a contender!

Get involved

ARKive is active on Twitter so why not join our community of followers and keep up to date with the world of ARKive! We tweet about everything from the ARKive team’s favourite species to what cakes we’re eating in the office, from the latest conservation news to fun games and contests. Follow us and then tweet @arkive to say hello!

Lauren Pascoe, ARKive Media Researcher

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WildPhotos, the UK’s largest nature photography symposium, took place at the Royal Geographical Society on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 October. Like ARKive, WildPhotos is another of Wildscreen’s initiatives, and of course the team jumped at the chance to head along and hear stories and tips from some of the world’s leading nature photographers. The event was a huge success, and for those of you that couldn’t make it (and those who would just like to relive it!) we thought we would bring you some of our highlights…

Sensational Speakers

Each year WildPhotos attracts a dazzling array of speakers, and this year’s programme was no exception. Top wildlife photographers from around the world were kind enough to share their stories, hints, tips, and even the odd embarrassing anecdote! Every speaker was inspirational, and we particularly enjoyed hearing from Mateusz Piesiak, Veolia Environnement Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2011. At the tender age of 14, and despite only recently learning English, Mateusz gave a confident talk about his winning image and several other beautiful shots from his portfolio.

Mateusz Piesiak, the Veolia Environnement Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year

Winning Wildlife Photographers

Mateusz Piesiak wasn’t the only winner from this year’s Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition to take the stage at WildPhotos. Over the course of the event, delegates were treated to talks from Alex Badyaev, Peter Chadwick, Erlend Haarberg, Bence Máté, Thomas P Peschak, Benjam Pöntinen, Cyril Ruoso, Paul Souders and of course Daniel Beltrá, the overall winner. You can check out all the speakers on the WildPhotos website, and their winning and commended photographs can be seen here.

Thomas P Peschak, who was highly commended in the Underwater World category, with compère Mark Carwardine

Editorial Tips from the Top

On Saturday afternoon there was a session focused on what makes a winning picture, with advice and insights from three of the biggest names in the wildlife magazine world, Ruth Eichhorn – Director of Photography for the GEO magazine group, Kathy Moran – National Geographic magazine’s Senior Editor for Natural History Projects, and Sophie Stafford – Editor of BBC Wildlife.

Editorial tips from Kathy Moran, Sophie Stafford and Ruth Eichhorn, with compère Chris Packham

The Power of Social Media

Paul Hassell gave a fascinating talk on the power of social media, something we have really embraced here at Wildscreen. To demonstrate how easily stories and media can be distributed using social networking, and the buzz that it can generate, Paul shot and uploaded a great behind the scenes video from WildPhotos which he shared via YouTube and Facebook.

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You may have read in our recent blog that WildPhotos, the UK’s largest nature photography symposium, is taking place later this month on the 21^st and 22^nd October at the Royal Geographical Society in London.

Every year WildPhotos draws an outstanding line-up of speakers, and our last blog focused on some of the stunning images that the speakers from this year’s event have contributed to ARKive.

Now we would like to take the chance to shine the spotlight on Jack Dykinga, this year’s keynote speaker. A Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer, Jack Dykinga is one of the world’s most respected landscape photographers. His skill in creating images that are both majestic and factual has made him a favourite of prestigious publications, including National Geographic and Arizona Highways.

Jack’s work reflects the merging of a photojournalistic, documentary approach with large-format landscape photography, focusing on environmental issues. His image ‘Stone Canyon’ was selected as one of the 40 best nature photographs of all time by the International League of Conservation Photographers (ILCP), and he received the 2011 Outstanding Photographer of the Year Award from the North American Nature Photography Association (NANPA).

Jack’s keynote presentation, The Power of Images – Damnation to Celebration, takes place on Friday afternoon and will focus on how photography can change what we value, something which is very important to us here at ARKive.

If you’d like to attend WildPhotos, tickets are available here and are on sale now. You can also find a full programme for the event on the WildPhotos website.

You can find out more about Jack’s work and browse more of his beautiful images on his website.

Claire Lewis, ARKive Media Researcher

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This October sees the return of WildPhotos, the UK’s largest nature photography symposium. Like ARKive, WildPhotos is an initiative of the charity Wildscreen, and plays host to some of the world’s top wildlife and environmental photographers – including winners of the prestigious Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition.

Every year WildPhotos draws an outstanding line-up of speakers who explore creativity in the world of nature photography, transporting delegates to far flung corners of the world through stunning images of nature and the stories behind them, as well as providing practical advice and techniques for both out in the field and back in the studio. Check out this year’s programme.

We are incredibly fortunate in that many WildPhotos speakers also kindly contribute their images to ARKive, in order to help us with our mission of promoting the conservation of the world’s threatened species through the power of wildlife imagery.

Here’s our pick of some of our favourite images from this year’s speakers:

Andy Rouse

British wildlife photographer Andy Rouse is well-known for his striking images, including this beautiful shot of a mountain gorilla. In 2010 Andy won the Gerald Durrell Award for Endangered Species at the prestigious Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition – a category which is sponsored by ARKive.

Bruno D’Amicis

Italian Bruno D’Amicis trained as a wildlife biologist but wanted to find a way to inspire people about nature conservation rather than just practise it. Photography was his choice, and he specialises in mountain wilderness areas and photographs of animals that give a true feel of the wild. We have a great collection of Bruno’s images on ARKive including this meadow viper.

Jürgen Freund

Jürgen’s work, on land and underwater, has been widely published all over the world. He has had solo exhibitions and has been a prize-winner in international competitions, including Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year. We love this image of a tiny hawksbill turtle hatchling taking shelter amongst some seaweed.

Bence Máté

Veolia Environnement Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2010, Bence Máté is another speaker for WildPhotos 2011 who also contributes images to ARKive. Bence’s photo of leaf-cutter ants in Costa Rica won the main award last year, so we thought we would stick with the invertebrate theme and share this image of a rhinoceros beetle with you.

Andrew Parkinson

Former press photographer Andrew Parkinson has a passion for wildlife, which is illustrated in his wonderful images on ARKive. Giving up his job to become a full-time nature photographer, Andrew specialises in British subjects. This image of a pied wagtail taking off from the snowy ground is a favourite in the ARKive office.

Sven Začek

Estonia’s leading nature photographer, Sven Začek is passionate about wetlands and wetland conservation, and as a result he has produced three books featuring the landscapes and wildlife of his homeland Estonia. This Eurasian beaver is a fantastic example of his work and also features on ARKive.

Michel Roggo

Michel specialises in photography of freshwater landscapes, animals and plants, and takes most of his pictures under the water, using specialist equipment he has developed himself. We think this image of roach spawning behaviour is particularly stunning.

Thomas P. Peschak

A trained marine biologist, Thomas is now focusing on environmental photojournalism after realising that he could have a bigger impact with photographs than statistics, which is something we can really relate to here at ARKive. Take a look at this amazing shot of an African clawless otter as it dives amongst the rocks.

Cyril Ruoso

A nature photographer who has for many years specialised in the photography of the world’s primates, Cyril Ruoso has travelled to most regions where wild populations still exist. One of our favourites is this shot of a Sumatran orang-utan infant being helped by its mother.

To hear from these photographers in person, why not attend WildPhotos - taking place on Friday 21 and Saturday 22 October at the Royal Geographical Society in London.

Further information is available on the WildPhotos website, and tickets are available here.

We hope to see you there!

Finally, keep an eye out for a special blog on the WildPhotos’ keynote for 2011, Pulitzer Prize winner Jack Dykinga, coming soon to ARKive.

Claire Lewis, ARKive Media Researcher

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