Avon Wildlife Trust Keynsham Group Talk "Born to Bird"

Last night I gave a 1 1/2 hour talk to Avon Wildlife Trust  (AWT) Keynsham Group. My talk was called "Born to Bird" about how I got into birding, my journey to seeing 4500 birds in the world and the conservation projects I am involved in. I was particularly please to do the talk without any notes and still not forget anything.

The organisers of the group said that normally their January Talks are very quiet, so apologised in advance in case there was a small audience. 

Instead, my talk had a record audience with quite a few kids and teenagers there, which has never happened before. They had to bring out all the chairs and the room was packed with more than 60 people. 

What was lovely was that AWT members came from around Bristol, not just Keynsham. It would be great if one day it was possible for me to give a talk in Bristol itself. 

Ian Barratt, the CEO of AWT was also there with his two children, so no pressure ! It was lovely to have a chat and meet his children and hopefully inspire them. I loved speaking to this group, particularly as the audience was great, laughing at my photos and jokes and being really interested in what I have managed to do. So thanks again. I even got invited back to speak more about Spoon-billed Sandpipers.

One of the many lovely messages that I received after the talk:

"My mother and I thoroughly enjoyed last Friday evenings talk given by your amazing daughter. Your parents have given you golden opportunities and you have grasped them fully with both hands"

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

A recent article about me in the local newspaper, The Keynsham Voice, and the great work of The Avon Wildlife Trust

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About the Author

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig in Antarctica
Photograph copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

Mya-Rose Craig is a 14 year old young British Bangladeshi birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent.

Mya-Rose was a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. She organised a conference, Race Equality in Nature, in June 2016 aiming to increase the ethnic diversity in nature. She has also set up Black2Nature with the aim of working with organisations to increase the access to nature of BAME people. Please connect with her on LinkedIn (Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig) so that she can invite you to join the Race Equality in Nature LinkedIn Group and be part of the change. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter

Speaking at Association of Science (ASE) Educators Conference 2017

Today was a really interesting day, as I did a one hour talk at the Association of Science Educations (ASE) Conference 2017 at Reading University.  The ASE is a membership organisation for Science teachers and I spoke to those teaching pupils aged 11-18 years.

It was interesting to visit Reading University and look around as now as well as Reading, I have visited Birmingham, Manchester and Cambridge.

My talk was about how they were a key part in the programme to get more BAME people into nature, by them concentrating on teaching secondary age teenagers about nature, conservation and environmental issues as well as trying to get them interested in and connecting with nature. I focused on the need to educate pupils about studying sciences, ensuring that they and their parents understand the professions that they can go into with say a biology degree, such as conservation or environmental careers.

I talked about the research, Camp Avalon, the Race Equality in Nature Conference and Black2Nature.

These are my slides and notes from my talk and it would be great if you could spread it to as many people especially teachers to read possible:
https://1drv.ms/b/s!AlHI1zymOkP6lRV-4q0zbGKfHl1q

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at ASE Conference
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at ASE Conference
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig at ASE Conference
Photograph copyright Mya-Rose Craig

About the Author

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig in Antarctica
Photograph copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

Mya-Rose Craig is a 14 year old young British Bangladeshi birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent.

Mya-Rose was a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. She organised a conference, Race Equality in Nature, in June 2016 aiming to increase the ethnic diversity in nature. She has also set up Black2Nature aiming to work with organisations to give BAME people equal access to nature. Please connect with her on LinkedIn (Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig) so that she can invite you to join the Race Equality in Nature LinkedIn Group and be part of the change. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter

Nature Connections Festival and meeting Chris Packham

On Saturday 10 September 2016, I had a brilliant time at the Nature Connections Festival organised by Derby University. I gave a talk "Born to Bird" about being born into a birding family, finding my own love for birds and nature, my journey to becoming the youngest person to see 4000 birds in the world and 450 birds in Britain, the importance to me of promoting conservation projects and getting young people and ethnic minorities interested in nature. 

BBC's Chris Packham with Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig
Copyright Mya-Rose Craig

It was also fantastic to meet Chris Packham from BBC Springwatch, who remembered me from meeting me last year which was amazing. It was also good to catch up with Jini Reddy was talking about her new book.

It can be a real frustration arranging to do something at the weekend like this day, as that day it meant that I was not able to go to see a Cragmartin on the Isles of Scilly, which would have been a new bird for me.

About the Author

Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig in Antarctica
Photograph copyright Young Birder Birdgirl Mya-Rose Craig

Mya-Rose Craig is a 14 year old young British Bangladeshi birder, naturalist, conservationist, environmentalist, activist, writer and speaker. She is based near Bristol and writes the successful Birdgirl Blog, with posts about birding and conservation from around the world. She loved seeing Mountain Gorillas in East Africa and Penguins in Antarctica over Christmas 2015, her 7th continent.

Mya-Rose was a Bristol European Green Capital Ambassador along with Kevin McCloud, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Tony Juniper, Simon King, Miranda Krestovnikoff and Shaun the Sheep! See the full list of Bristol Ambassadors. She has also been listed with the singer songwriter George Ezra and actress Maisie Williams from Game of Thrones as one of Bristol's most influential young people. She organised a conference in June 2016 aiming to increase the ethnic diversity in nature. Please connect with her on LinkedIn (Mya-Rose Birdgirl Craig) so that she can invite you to join the Race Equality in Nature LinkedIn Group and be part of the change. Please like her Birdgirl Facebook Page and follow her on Birdgirl Twitter