The Good Gardener 2025
Join in citizen science through monitoring efforts across the University and planting native wildflowers
We’re thrilled to celebrate the Good Gardener campaign 2025, and champion and support the University’s commitment to reaching biodiversity net gain by 2035.
The Good Gardener campaign invites staff and students to take part in citizen science by joining in with one or more of the monitoring efforts across the University, listed below. Volunteers will also be planting native wildflowers in designated areas to support Oxford’s pollinators and raise awareness about the importance of biodiversity.
How to take part?
Read the detailed explanation for each of the following opportunities. Choose which one you wish to participate in and register below.
City Nature Challenge
- Date: 25-28 April 2025
Join in with the Oxfordshire City Nature Challenge and take part in a citizen science global bioblitz! Join people from across the globe who’ll all be learning about their local species too. You’ll learn how to record them and find out about species around the world, all while meeting new people and working towards a global goal for nature!
See the invitation to learn more.
College nature challenge
- Date: Week 1-2 Trinity Term, 28 April until 11 May 2025
More details will follow.
Sow seeds with University Parks
- Date: 24 April 2024 at lunchtime (12:00 until 1:30pm)
Join the University Park gardeners who'll be sowing wildflowers, and learn about biodiversity in the park and seeding techniques.
Registration is required (participation limited to 20 people) – registration form
Cold drinks and light nibbles will be available.
Meeting point: Keble Gate.
Access information: Accessibility in the park.
Seeding with college teams
- More information will follow.
Biodiversity walks
- Learn about species and biodiversity in our area.
More information will follow.
Get involved in PlanBee
Picture of a blue Bee Hotel from the PlanBee project
The PlanBee research project took place across Oxfordshire in Spring 2018, providing long-term monitoring of Oxford's solitary bees by establishing a network of bee hotels across the University.
While the research project has now concluded, the bee hotels are still present and serve the solitary bees' population in Oxford.
We are looking for volunteers to monitor the bee hotels, check their condition, do small repairs and monitor them for a short time. Volunteers will be assigned two or three sites, with the work taking about an hour and carried out a couple of times during the spring months.
Fill in this form to learn more about this opportunity and register your interest.
iNaturalist
Oxford University is listed on the iNaturalist platform. The app helps survey biodiversity through observations by the public.
The University’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy commits us to achieving biodiversity net gain by 2035. To allow the University to monitor its impact (for better or for worse), we need to observe and document the species around us. This spring, you can help leverage the power of our community by taking part in this citizen science initiative.
While you’re out in nature enjoying the plants, birds and insects around you, we invite you to keep an eye out to identify and document the species you see with the iNaturalist app.
How to access and use iNaturalist
