The Ecologists Dartmoor Expedition
The abundant ferns, the long dry grasses, the meadow and the moors. Surging wild rivers and serene plunge pools. These are the places where Ecologists love to roam. Researching the British landscape in the Summer months can be a wonderfully rewarding experience but swarms of biting insects that the warm weather brings, can dishearten even the hardiest of nature lovers.
In our film ‘The Ecologists”, Jasmin and Guy carried on with their research auditing the waters of Dartmoor, exploring the incredible ecosystem of the river Dart.
Watch the film below and discover more about their passion for the Dart and the joy it brings to spend time in nature.
The Shoot
Our ecologists lead us on an educational journey along the river Dart, explaining the ecology of the area, the river water quality and surveyed the biodiversity in our effective NosiLife range.
One of our more memorable shoots, it was only fitting to have the longest day of the year as our filming date, June 21st. This worked out perfectly as the total shoot lasted 30 hours and we were able to take full advantage of the day and then sit back and have a well earned rest, whilst taking in the latest sunset of the year.
After wild camping in the local area, we were up at 4:30am the next day to watch the spectacular sunrise, and we were not disappointed, as we were blown away by the simple yet mesmerising sunrise.
The entire shoot was littered with stunning views of the flora and fauna of the area and Jaz and Guy were in their element, enlightening us on the subtle workings of the thriving ecosystem, a particular highlight being an up-close explanation with a cased caddis fly, which you can see in the video above!
The Ecologists
The two extremely talented professionals that lead our expedition around the river Dart were Jaz and Guy. Both PHD students, Jaz’s research has stretched across a variety of different themes, including freshwater and marine ecology, water biogeochemistry, climate change and the potential of empowered communities through scientific storytelling.
Guy. a fellow PhD student at Plymouth Marine Laboratory is currently researching the potential environmental impact of Ocean based Carbon Dioxide removal and his previous work spans scientific solutions to tackle global environmental issues, like climate change and biodiversity loss.
