In the video, Sabrina Simon (assistant professor at the Biosystematics chair group) and sixty of her first-year students investigate what fauna lives in the campus ponds. This activity is organised for the course Biodiversity of the Netherlands, which is part of the curriculums of the bachelor’s programmes Biology and Forest and Nature Management. ‘It is a course with a very wide scope, which treats on both theory and practice’, says Simon. A total of 240 students follow this course in which Dutch flora and fauna are studied.
Useful and educational
This is not the first time students itemise the fauna in the campus ponds. But it is still useful, she explains. ‘The fauna is dynamic. This kind of field research allows us to itemise what lives in the ponds and how this changes throughout the years.’ She also points out the decline of insect populations. Additionally, according to Simon, this is a great and educational exercise for the students.