An insect on a lotus leaf, ripples after a gust of wind, or changes brought by rain can all offer a way into campus ecology. The School of Nature & Life Sciences is inviting students from across the university to record the small living things around them through its autumn field notes project.

With guidance, participants will learn to choose observation sites, record weather and species information, and recognise sources of observational error. Drawings, photographs and written notes will sit alongside the data, preserving the different ways disciplines see the world.

The project emphasises observation with minimal disturbance: keep a respectful distance, leave animals where they are and protect their habitats. The aim is to understand the place we share with nature more patiently.

This semester's records will be brought together in a campus nature handbook and shared at a winter open workshop. Students willing to slow down and take a closer look are welcome to join.