Member Spotlight: Ros Jones

This month, we’re excited to introduce Nature’s Blueprint member Ros Jones.

Ros is the Founder of Wildlife Wellbeing Walks, based in Lancaster (UK) for people who wish to engage with nature in a mindful way to enhance wellbeing. The aim is to keep visiting the same spaces throughout the year to get to know the local wildlife and how it changes through the seasons. By reconnecting with nature in this way we can really benefit from being present in that time and place.

Ros has a degree in Botany (The University of Reading) and a PhD in plant biochemistry, ecology and pollution (Aberystwyth University). Whilst studying at Aberystwyth Ros studied Lifelong Learning modules in Field Ecology (plant, bird & bird song, and dragonfly identification).

Most recently, she gained a teaching qualification from Lancaster University: Associate Fellow of the HEA (AFHEA).  She has used this design short courses in plant identification and plan to expand this to birds and their songs.

Ros enjoys frequent walks on her local patch and is able to identify many species of plants, animals and invertebrates in the area.

What inspired you to join Nature’s Blueprint?

I first heard about NB last Spring, for the inaugural Nature’s Blueprint North; I like the language and the principle of finding a positive way to move through the difficulties we face with climate and nature crises, without feeling so hopeless. It felt like a great opportunity to meet other like-minded individuals, and I was so glad that I did. It’s a wonderful community of decent people who care deeply for the planet and each other.

How do you integrate Nature into your everyday work or life?

In my own business, Wildlife Wellbeing Walks, nature is at the heard of what I do. My aim is to connect others with the natural world for their own benefit, and for them to want to do more to protect it. On a personal level, I find that time spent in nature is always time well spent. No matter how ‘in my head’ I am, I can hear a bird song, or spot a plant and then I’m back in my body, in my senses, present. I wish that everyone could feel this and understand why nature and preserving diversity is so important.

What specific projects or initiatives are you currently working on that you are excited about?

I’ve just finished the first ever Wild Roots Nature Fest in Lancaster. It was amazing to bring so many different people together in a range of activities in wildlife. We already have plans for next year with the aim to expand into more arts-based projects and I will be meeting with a sound artist in early August to discuss a collaboration. It was a lot of hard work to get the festival together for year one, but I am keen to keep the momentum going and, with a strong group of volunteers, good data and feedback from this proof of concept year, I am really excited for year two!

Can you share a memorable experience you’ve had in Nature that significantly influenced your career or personal life?

There have been so many! One of the most impactful, though, was when I was grieving for my late cat (who had come to me just before my mum died). I was walking to see a friend, feeling weighed down by sadness and suddenly I heard the tweeting contact calls of long-tailed tits. These ‘flying lollipops’ flitted across in front of me and suddenly I felt joy. The small, simple pleasures in life of contact with the world around us took me away from that sadness for a few seconds. It didn’t last, but it allowed me a moment to realise that the grief wouldn’t last forever, that the grief was a privilege of the love I had for my cat, and helped me to accept it. In acceptance, the grief was no longer as powerful.

From your perspective, what is the most challenging aspect of your work? How do you overcome it?

The biggest challenge I face is getting people to commit to coming for a walk or attending an event. It still feels quite ‘niche’ and whilst they are happy to pay £15 for a take-away without much thought, the same cannot be said for a 2-hour guided nature walk. I think there is a feeling of ‘why should I pay someone to lead me on a walk when I can do it for free?’ My approach is to offer up snippets of information online about what I do, the kinds of things they might find out when I lead a walk, to give them a better idea of what to expect. When you are offering a service it is the person that people buy into, so I have to be willing to put myself out there and share some of the personal. Luckily, I am a pretty open person, but it is still hard to be vulnerable when you don’t know how others will react.

Are there any specific skills or expertise you’re looking for that other Nature’s Blueprint members may be able to help with?

I would love to connect with other NB members who would like to contribute to next year’s Wild Roots Nature Fest, either directly or indirectly. I’ll be looking for artistic contributions, speakers and anyone who might be able to connect me with funders and potential sponsors.

We believe that humans have an extraordinary capacity to problem solve & innovate. What gives you HOPE?

I get hope from communities like Nature’s Blueprint: knowing that there are other people out there who are experiencing similar things, working towards a common goal. This kind of grassroots (pun intended!) movement is critical in the challenges we face. It is all too easy to dismiss our personal responsibility, to say we’ll wait for legislation that never seems to come, and then give up because it feels too hard. Yet, if we all do something small, that groundswell can have a huge impact. The recent film, Ocean, with Sir David Attenborough was a great example of this. The global campaign ‘Together for the Ocean’, combining stakeholders and organizations provided template letters for individuals to send to national ministers ahead of the UN Ocean Conference in June this year. After receiving 16,000 letters (now nearly 18,000) the UK minister Steve Read has announced that 41 marine protected areas will now have bottom trawling banned. That’s the power of the individual if enough of us do something small and simple. That gives me huge hope.

We hope you found this Member Spotlight interesting. Do connect with Ros if anything she has shared resonates with you and you’d like to know more – you can find out more about Ros on here.