At the start of each year the Plants for Bugs team have been meeting at Rothamsted Research (Herts) to take advantage of the generosity and expertise of entomologists and ecologists working there. They've always got something useful to say and this year was no exception.
From left to right we have in the photo above; me (Helen Bostock), Prof Mark Tatchell, Dr Roger Williams, James Armitage (back), Dr Alison Haughton, Dr Andy Salisbury (back), Andrew Halstead, Prof Joe Perry, Vicki Coupland (back), David Brooks and, not least, Sarah Al-Beidh (hiding behind the camera!).
Some issues covered in the meeting included; how long we will need to continue sampling for to gain useful results (we won't fully know the answer to this until the numbers are crunched in 2013 but likehood is there'll be sampling of some sort continuing through 2013 and 2014); best approach to tackling winter hardiness; best techniques to use for data analysis; where and how to publish scientific papers of the findings; and much more.
And here we are in deep discussion.. (and yes, those are choccy biscuits in the front!)
While we were cozy inside, spare a thought for the bugs braving the cold weather on our plots. The ladybirds seem the least bothered;
