Better Biosecurity to Slow the Spread of Invasive Species
September 30, 2016DTP students Cat Shannon and Will Fincham, along with supervisor Dr Alison Dunn, have developed an online ‘Better Biosecurity’ training tool to raise awareness of the threat of invasive species to natural habitats. This tool is derived from their PhD research and aims to educate all environmental researchers on how they can ensure better biosecurity in their daily activities, especially while on fieldwork. Invasive non-native species cause environmental damage and have huge economic impacts within Europe. They also create nuisance and can affect human health. Activities such as monitoring/surveying, sampling, conservation & habitat management, social research and supervising others can all cause accidental movement of invasive non-native species. The Better Biosecurity e-learning course has been produced by the University of Leeds in collaboration with the Great Britain Non-Native Species Secretariat, the Environment Agency and Cefas. It is available to all researchers from the University of Leeds and beyond and can be accessed here.
