Welcome, neophyte taxonomists

An adult Vallonia costata (only 2mm across). You'll discover things you didn't know existed. CC Nefronus.

  Heaps of people over the years have said to me this was their favourite assignment. I think it's because it gives you the opportunity to develop a genuine 'natural history' type skill - not only the sort of thing that will impress if you go for an ecological job, but also something you can get personal satisfaction from, when you start to recognise (and indeed, start to really See) the plants and animals around you. Maybe an interest in this sort of thing might have been behind you choosing an environmental course in the first place.

I always tell people to Begin Now - but it's really useful to take some time first to think what you might like to collect. If you find this difficult, think about what you might not want to do, and whittle away the options from the other end. Some people might have an existing interest, or a natural preference for animals or plants. (Not all animal-collecting necessitates death, by the way - you could choose snails and other molluscs and just collect empty shells). Some groups necessitate travel (don't choose seaweed if you can't easily get to the sea...) and most do benefit from visiting a range of habitats. But if you can't get far out of Bristol, some options are still very do-able.

Some nice maritime lichen I saw on the Cornwall field trip this year

Specimens of some groups are harder to find than others; some are seasonal (it's already too late really for grasses and Asteraceae). Some are easy enough to collect and preserve, but need more time to identify (like mosses, lichens and spiders). Some need identifying quickly before important features fade (like mushrooms) whereas others can be pored over at leisure (snails). Some need preserving quickly before they cause smells your housemates will complain about (seaweed). Don't waste your efforts - make sure you know the correct preservation technique for your group before you go out collecting!

If you like squinting down a microscope (and I do), then that's essential for some groups but not others. I enjoy the nerdy puzzle-solving of identifying a beetle from a key riddled with long words. I also enjoy looking at the amazing and unexpected detail of lichens, beetles, spiders, mosses (indeed anything) under the microscope.

Many ground beetles are still active over winter. Carabus violaceous CC by Monika Betley.

 Some groups (like beetles) have many many species in this country - and it's literally a lifetime's work to become an expert - but you can start with just a few. Other groups have a limited number of British options and you can soon feel like you're getting to grips with them, though you might find you have to go out of your way to get the less common specimens that will get you a distinguished mark (trees and ferns maybe).

I hope you'll feel motivated to discover more about the species you find, and go out of your way to find more than just the 'minimum required': I hope you enjoy learning something new, and get a good mark too. The 'useful overview' on the left explains the basic elements of the assignment, and you can pick through the list of options under it. The 'cloud' on the right has all my waffling thoughts (among which are helpful hints I hope). But please feel free to contact me - send me an email or drop by to OJ16.