The Buzz Club
Real gardens - Real science
Gardening is a popular pastime, but not one that we do alone. Whether hidden beneath the soil, buzzing in the borders or singing on the fence, thousands of wild animals share our spaces. They provide vital support to our own horticultural successes - yet we know very little about most of them!
The Buzz Club intends to change that. We are a citizen science club, run by scientists at the University of Sussex. Citizen Science is a way of conducting research in collaboration with the general public. The Buzz Club creates experiments that help us understand the wildlife we share our gardens with, and what we can do to conserve it. Volunteers all over the UK help us to answer these important questions.
Learn more about why wildlife gardening, pollinators and the Buzz Club is important from our Director Dave Goulson's Symposium talk below:
Our Aims
The University of Sussex has lots of aims which you can read about here, some of which are highlighted below:
The University of Sussex aims to:
- Stimulate, excite and challenge.
- Research with Impact: By challenging conventional thinking and discourse, we will understand and help solve the grand issues of our time.
- Engage for Change: Working for positive change in partnership with people, communities, organisations close to home and around the World.
Raise awareness of insect decline, and provide scientific evidence for interventions to encourage and support wildlife in private outdoor spaces.
The Buzz Club is part of the University and so aspires to the above aims. We also have our own additional aims:
Engage a large and diverse audience, increasing accessibility and confidence in citizen science, thus fostering a sense of ownership and involvement with ecological endeavours.
Fill knowledge gaps about how private outdoor spaces contribute to insect conservation, using the unique opportunities afforded by citizen science methodologies.
Promote and share findings, ensuring maximum data flow between people, communities and organisations.
Meet The Team
Professor Dave Goulson
Club Director
Dave is professor of biology at University of Sussex, specializing in bumblebees. He has written several books on insects and wildlife gardening, and founded the Bumblebee Conservation Trust in 2006.
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Issy Sexton
Research Assistant
Issy graduated from the University of Sussex in 2020 with a Zoology BSc. Since then she has worked with a strong focus on entomology, citizen science and community engagement.
Dr. Linda Birkin
Steering Group Member
Linda is a Citizen Science Specialist, with a particular interest in urban ecology and outreach.
Dr. Beth Nicholls
Steering Group Member
Beth is a Research Fellow at the University of Sussex and her lab studies how bees decide what flowers to visit & how this affects nutrition. She focusses on how bees cope with stress & works with gardeners to understand pollination on urban farms.
Yanet Sepulveda
Project Lead
Yanet is a Research Fellow at the University of Sussex. Her research explores the impact of climate change on pollinators through laboratory studies and citizen science. She uses public outreach to share her findings and encourage action for biodiversity. She is the Project Lead for Bees & Heatwaves.
Dr. Ellen Rotheray
Steering Group Member
Ellie is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sussex teaching conservation biology & ecology. Ellie is interested in exploring the resource requirements of insects, with a view to restoring & connecting diverse, functioning habitats. Ellie has run the Hoverfly Lagoons project since 2016, and is a member of the IUCN Species Survival Commission (SSC) and Hoverfly Specialist Group 2019 – 2025.
Dr. Maria Clara Castellanos
Steering Group Member
Cala is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Sussex where she and her group study plants with a focus on flowers and how they are shaped by pollination in their evolution. She is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Pollination Ecology.
Dr. Janine Griffiths-Lee
Steering Group Member
Janine is a post-doctoral researcher at RBG Kew. Based at Wakehurst, she works in the Nature Unlocked team studying pollinators in the landscape. Her current focus is the benefits of different tree species to pollinators, habitat management in urban gardens, and citizen science.
Dr. Rob Fowler
Steering Group Member
Rob previously was the centre-point for the Buzz Club Organization. He is now a Steering Group member whilst working in his new role at the University, leading school-based technicians.