This listing has been compiled from a variety of sources. As there may be last-minute changes, checking with the organisers is recommended. There are links where appropriate with the event and in the list of organisations at the end of the diary.

CNHS members will automatically be emailed details and links for CNHS events. To join see our membership page.

There is an email list for advance notification of events, which is open to anyone. Contact mailings [at] cnhs.org.uk to be added to the list. Outlook has started to reject CNHS emails as spam for several members. If you are not receiving our weekly emails it is up to you to check with your service provider and adjust your settings.

If you wish to have your events included in the CNHS Diary please send them to events [at] cnhs.org.uk

until 15 September Exhibition – Growing a backbone: Rise of the vertebrates Museum of Zoology

8 September CNHS field studies TL45J (galls) details to be confirmed

9 September CGS talk Stratigraphy and Sedimentology of Northern European Chalks Dr Haydon Bailey

21 September CFG excursion to River Nene in admin Cambridgeshire

30 September CWT talk Cambridge peregrines overview and updates Saimon Clark; David Attenborough Building

6 October CNHS field studies TL45J (fungi) details to be confirmed

10 October CNHS talk Overlooked wildlife, or, Why are there so many species? Brian Eversham; David Attenborough Building

12 October CFG excursion to Westfield Farm

14 October CGS talk Iguanodons Franziska Norman

17 October CNHS talk Finding W H Hudson Conor Jameson. David Attenborough Building

24 October CNHS talk The Northwest Passage blog Colin and Christine Lang; James Dyson Building, Engineering Department

28 October CWT talk Climate change and butterfly specimens Emily Wenban-Smith; David Attenborough Building

31 October CNHS talk A beep in the dark: 120 years of midwife toads in Great Britain Steve Allain; James Dyson Building, Engineering Department

7 November CNHS talk To Kyrgyzstan for the Botanic Garden Kathryn Bray; James Dyson Building, Engineering Department

10 November CNHS field studies TL45J (bryophytes) details to be confirmed

11 November CGS talk The oldest fossilised trees ever found Dr William McMahon

14 November CNHS talk Hybrid Yponomeuta Nathan Clark; ZOOM only

21 November CNHS talk Landscape regeneration in Cambridgeshire Laurie Friday; David Attenborough Building

25 November CWT talk Cody Dock overview Evie Crouch; David Attenborough Building

28 November CNHS talk title to be confirmed Frances Dipper; James Dyson Building, Engineering Department

9 December CGS talk The Geodiversity Landscapes of Cambridgeshire Dr Steve Boreham

Abbreviations, with links to the organisations’ websites where details of events can be found: ARUWS – Anglia Ruskin University Wildlife Society
BDS – British Dragonfly Society
BSBI – Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland
CBG –  Cambridge Bryological Group
CBC – Cambridgeshire Bird Club
CBKA – Cambridgeshire Beekeepers’ Association
CCF – Cambridge Conservation Forum
CFG – Cambridgeshire Flora Group.  Meetings mostly start at 10am
CGS – Cambridgeshire Geological Society
CLG – Cambridge Lichen Group – contact Louise Bacon.
CNH – Cabinet of Natural History seminars
CPERC – Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Environmental Records Centre
CPPF – Cambridge Past, Present & Future  Booking is usually required
CPS – Cambridge Philosophical Society
CUMS – CU Mycological Society
CUNS – CU Nature Society
CUWCS – CU Wildlife Conservation Society
CUPS – CU Physics Society  
CUSS – Cambridge University Scientific Society
CUVZS – CU Veterinary  Zoological  Society.
CVF – Cam Valley Forum
CWT – Cambridge city group of the Wildlife Trust
FoLM –Friends of Logans Meadow
FRRFD – Friends of the Roman Road and Fleam Dyke
FoCB – Friends of Cherry Hinton Brook
FoSC – Friends of Stourbridge Common
Froglife – Froglife
FSM – Friends of the Sedgwick Museum
HFFS – Hunts Flora and Fauna Society
SCFG – South Cambs Fungus Group
RC – Rivercare
RSPB – Cambridge RSPB local group
SHNH – Society for the History of Natural History
TC – Transition Cambridge
WT – other Wildlife Trust events

PAST EVENTS

30 December 2023 – 2 January 2024 BSBI New Year Plant Hunt
1 January CNHS/CFG field studies Coton Footpath
8 January 7:30 p.m. CGS talk The Northwest Highlands Controversy – How one man’s ego held back science Dr Reg Nicholls; St Andrews Centre, School Hill, Histon, Cambridge CB24 9JE £3 for non members [changed from 15 January]
25 January 7:30 p.m. Pure Clean Water – the film Storey’s Field, Eddington Tickets £5
26 – 28 January RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch
29 January 6:15 for 7:00 p.m. CWT AGM & talk Future landscape management initiatives: implications for invertebrate conservation Brian Eversham; David Attenborough Building. £3.00 for Wildlife Trust members, £4.00 non-members
5 February 6:00 p.m. POSTPONED Cambridge Antiquarian Society talk Rewilding’ Later Prehistory: Archaeological Wildlife and its Role in Contemporary Nature Recovery Dr Anwen Cooper; Law Faculty, The David Williams Building, Sidgwick Site, West Rd
8 February 6:45 p.m. CNHS talk Pollinator conservation and your lawn Morgan Morrison; David Attenborough Building.
12 February 7:30 p.m. CGS talk Ediacran fossils in Namibia Dr Alex Liu; St Andrews Centre, School Hill, Histon, Cambridge CB24 9JE £3 for non members
15 February 7:30 p.m. CNHS talk Habitat associations of British butterflies and their foodplants: implications for conservation Esme Ashe-Jepson; online by Zoom
22 February 6:45 p.m. CNHS talk Indonesia, Alfred Wallace and Krakatoa Olwen Williams; David Attenborough Building.
26 February 6:15 for 7:00 p.m. CWT talk Nine Wells: A haven for farmland birds John Meed; David Attenborough Building. £3.00 for Wildlife Trust members, £4.00 non-members.
29 February 6:45 p.m. CNHS talk Otters – in Cambridgeshire Peter Pilbeam; David Attenborough Building
7 March 6:45 p.m. CNHS talk Phenology in Botanic Gardens Rose Fricker; David Attenborough Building.
11 March 7:30 p.m. CGS talk The interpretation of the periglacial landsystem through LiDAR Dr David Giles; St Andrews Centre, School Hill, Histon, Cambridge CB24 9JE £3 for non members.
14 March 7:30 p.m. CNHS talk What and where I record Jonathan Shanklin; online by Zoom
21 March 7:30 p.m. CNHS talk Moth trapping in Cambridge Duncan Mackay; online by Zoom
23 March CFG South-east Cambridgeshire churchyards details to be confirmed
25 March 6:15 for 7:00 p.m. CWT talk The changing background of conservation; Matt Jackson. David Attenborough Building. £3.00 for Wildlife Trust members, £4.00 non-members
7 April CNHS field studies Meet at the Ascension cemetery at 2pm. Further details of all these will be sent nearer the time.
8 April 7:30 p.m. CGS members evening St Andrews Centre, School Hill, Histon, Cambridge CB24 9JE £3 for non members
15 April 5:30 p.m. CWT Tour of Jesus college wildlife Rhona Watson and Lee de Grammont
16 April CFG excursion details to be confirmed
19/20 April CNHS 105th Conversazione and NatHistFest
Friday 1 p.m. – 6 p.m.; Saturday 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Department of Zoology, Downing Street. ADMISSION FREE – ALL WELCOME
29 April 6:30 for 7:00 p.m. CWT talk Young Peoples Forum; Laura Allen. David Attenborough Building. £3.00 for Wildlife Trust members, £4.00 non-members
9 May 6:45 CNHS AGM and talk Wicken Fen: 125 Years of Conservation Ajay Tegala; David Attenborough Building. Admission free.
11 May CFG visit to Hope Farm
13 May 7:30 p.m. CGS talk Potential for carbon dioxide sequestration in volcanic rocks of the North Atlantic Igneous Province Dr Simon Passey; St Andrews Centre, School Hill, Histon, Cambridge CB24 9JE £3 for non members
16 May CNHS field studies details to be confirmed
7 May 7:00 p.m. CWT guided walk Bats at Byron’s Pool. Anita Joysey and Dave Seilly
24 May – 30 June Cambridge Nature Festival
7 June 10:30 a.m. CGS Building stones of Cambridge walk. Fully booked.
9 June CFG excursion to Abington Piggots
10 June 7:30 p.m. CGS talk My favourite fossils at the Sedgwick Museum Rob Theodore; St Andrews Centre, School Hill, Histon, Cambridge CB24 9JE £3 for non members
11 June 7 p.m. FSM talk Getting a taste for rocks in the Anthropocene Professor Jan Zalasiewicz; Tilley Lecture Theatre, Department of Earth Sciences, Cambridge
13 June 6:30 p.m. CNHS field studies Coton Footpath
14 June 10:30 a.m. CGS Building stones of Cambridge walk. Booking essential.
18 June CNHS visit to Wandlebury
20 June CFG excursion to IWN Duxford Airfield
21 June 4:30 – 9:30 p.m. Friends of the River Cam Celebration of the Rights of the River Cam
22 June 12 noon March to Restore Nature Now Central London
24 June 7:30 p.m. CWT Guided walk East Pit chalk grassland flowers. Anita Joysey and Dave Seilly
27 June 6:30 p.m. Chesterton Festival walk round Pye’s Rec.
29 June 11:00 a.m. CWT Tour of Trumpington Meadows Rebecca Green
3 July 6:30 p.m. CNHS visit to Coton Orchard
8 July 6:00 p.m. CWT Tour of Clare College Gardens Kate Hargreaves and John Mears
9 July CFG excursion to Wicken Fen
18 July 6:30 p.m. CNHS field studies Adams Road
27 July – 11 August National Marine Week
29 July 10:15 p.m. CWT Guided walk – Glow-worms at East Pit. Anita Joysey and Dave Seilly
31 July CNHS visit to Magog Down
3 August CFG excursion details to be confirmed
5 August 6:00 p.m. CWT Tour of Bramblefields Nature Reserve Vic Smith
13 August Wonderful Wetland Wildlife – Family Activity Day Museum of Zoology
25 August CNHS field studies TL45J
26 August 8:00 p.m. CWT Evening Bat Walk at Paradise Nature Reserve Anita Joysey and Dave Seilly
31 August CFG excursion to Northstowe