Falmouth marine students meets Sir David (From Falmouth Packet)

Falmouth marine students meets Sir David

8:10am Tuesday 21st July 2009 in News By Stephen Ivall

A student on the Marine Biology and Ecology National Diploma at Falmouth Marine School met one of his idols, Sir David Attenborough, while on work experience in Somerset.

Martyn Davies, second year on the National Diploma was at Montacute House at an event celebrating the 25th anniversary of the large blue butterfly’s reintroduction to Britain.

Sir David Attenborough was among those attending the special event on 16 June. The large blue butterfly had been pronounced extinct in the country in 1979, but Somerset is now the location of the largest concentration of Large Blues anywhere in the world.As part of the work experience module, Martyn spent four weeks working at Montacute House supporting the gardening team in preparing the gardens for the event.

The Large Blue remains one of the world’s most threatened species and the event was to celebrate the British reintroduction of the species as one of the most successful in the world. The reintroduction was based on major scientific breakthroughs, and the development of a pioneering model for insect conservation which is now being used to restore rare butterfly species across Europe.

At the event Sir David described the restoration of the Large Blue to Britain as a: “Remarkable success story, illustrating the power of ecological research to reverse damaging environmental changes.”

Martyn said: “The work experience has been really good fun and I’ve learnt a lot about the different species in the area. It was really exciting to be there at the event and even more so to be thanked by Sir David himself! I’ll never forget it.”

Louise Hockley, course manager on the Marine Biology and Ecology National Diploma said: “It is fantastic that our students can be involved in celebrating successful conservation projects. The work experience module is an integral part of the course and greatly enhances the student experience.”