Dave Emley

I am one of that rare breed today - an all-round naturalist; but with particular expertise in birds, insects and flowers. Although largely self-taught, I have been fortunate to learn from some highly experienced naturalists and it is now my mission to pass on this knowledge.

Natural History Societies

I was fortunate to be around while natural history societies were still flourishing and I ended up chairing several of them. Sadly, most are no more. I am still involved with the West Midland Bird Club and edit their annual report "The Birds of Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire and the West Midlands".

In the 1980s

I ran a series of extra-mural classes, 20 meetings on ornithology and entomology for the Keele Adult Education Department and the Workers Education Association. Later I ran a series of shorter lecture-plus-field meeting classes.

In the 2000s

In 2000, I became the County Recorder for Moths, which involves me in verifying and collating records of moths from across the county - some 30,000 records per year.

In my day job I was a technician in the School of Geography and Geology at Keele University where I was responsible for chemical and x‑ray analysis of rocks and minerals, scanning electron microscopy and web development. However, in my spare time I helped to set up an arboretum on Keele's 600-acre campus, developing guided walks and labelling over 3000 trees.

During this time, we set up the national collection of Flowering Cherries - one of the largest such collections in Europe, with over 250 species and varieties. To accompany the arboretum, I developed a website with photos etc. of all the cherries and much of the other flora and fauna there.

Awards

In 2017, I was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to Higher Education and Natural History in Staffordshire and in 2018 an Honorary Doctorate from Keele University.

Aston Lodge Park

In 1996, Sue and I moved to Aston Lodge, into one of the last houses to be built. For a naturalist the location is ideal and over the years we have been recording and documenting the flora and fauna that we have found here. This has been shared with residents via this website and my annual Natural History of Aston Lodge Park.

I continue to share my sightings with residents via the Facebook Group and hope to continue the successful guided walks (when conditions allow).

Social Media

Find me on Facebook or follow me on Twitter(X). You might also like to view my YouTube talks on butterflies and moths.