Freshwater Ecology

Richard Orton
Richard was born and raised in Walsall and as a child developed a keen and enduring fascination for all things to do with animals. He studied zoology at University, specialising in freshwater ecology, before working as a tutor with the Field Studies Council for several years. Here he was able to indulge in a wide variety of activities ranging from small mammal trapping to geological surveys. He also was co-leader on several wildlife courses to the Camargue and the Cevennes in France and was one of the authors of the FSC's best-selling fold-out key to freshwater animals. Richard is currently working as a biology teacher in a Sixth Form College, and he tries to keep sane by spending as much time as possible birdwatching, hunting for insects (especially butterflies, moths and dragonflies), pond dipping and anything else which involves being out doors.

 

Fungi

Bill Moodie
Bill has extensive knowledge of wild fungi. He has been active both in field studies and also in research and writing on the subject for many years. He participated in the well respected Warwickshire Fungus Survey, from its early days in the 1960s. - wfs.bnhsoc.org.uk - and was the survey's secretary for a number of years. When the late M.C.Clark edited the Fungus Flora of Warwickshire, Bill was a key member in the production team. He contributed a chapter on the history of Warwickshire mycologists to that volume and compiled the 'Fungus of Sandwell Valley'. For a considerable period of time he was responsible for collecting and presenting the records of fungi found in the field meetings of the Brirish Mycological Society (BMS) and during that time was effectively the National fungus recorder. He gave two lectures to the BMS and has lectured on the subject to a variety of organisations