The Field Identification Skills Certificate: Assessing Botanical ID Skills

The Field Identification Skills Certificate: Assessing Botanical ID Skills
Dr Chantal Helm (Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland)
Species ID Skills Virtual Symposium
20 Jun 2024
The Field Identification Skills Certificate (FISC) is a test that assesses your botanical proficiency on a scale from 1 (beginner) to 5 (professional), with a level 6 awarded in exceptional cases. Originally developed by Sarah Whild and Sue Dancey, the BSBI's FISC Development Working Group (including a number of experienced FISC Assessors) now supports and oversees the running of FISCs.
The FISC assesses your real-life botanical skills and is gaining popularity and becoming an industry standard, with some consultancies sending their staff annually to encourage skill development. This talk will discuss how the assessments are improving the quality of professional botanical skills, especially in light of recent changes to legislation and the introduction of BNG, as well as their impact on the "amateur" botanical community.
Dr Chantal Helm is the BSBI's training coordinator responsible for FISC and Identiplant. She is also a terrestrial ecologist with field experience in South Africa and the UK, with a broad interest in natural history. After a decade in academia, Chantal now focuses on delivering local voluntary conservation projects, encouraging local biological recording, undertaking freelance bat surveys and supporting students as a visiting lecturer, alongside her part-time BSBI role.
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