Welcome to the first half of a two-part recording made on November the 12th at the Manchester Art Gallery - and the inaugural Emily Williamson Festival.
The Festival was created by author and campaigner Tessa Boase and activist and event organiser Tina Lindsay to honour the memory of Emily Williamson, who in 1889, determined to stop the ‘murderous millinery’ of the plumage trade, founded an all-female group that just fifteen years later had become the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, the RSPB.
Tessa and Tina organised a fascinating discussion for the first evening of the festival, chaired by Zoologist and Wildlife TV Presenter Megan McCubbin, with a panel consisting of biologist, nature writer and campaigner Amy-Jane Beer; Beccy Speight, CEO of the RSPB, Juliet Vickery, CEO of the British Trust for Ornithology and President of the British Ornithologists Union, and the Chief Executive of BirdLife International Patricia Zurita.
In this first part of the recording, we hear from Tessa Boase herself who explains how she uncovered Emily Williamson’s forgotten history, before introducing behavioural scientist Professor Melissa Bateson – who has spent many years researching Starlings and is Emily Williamson’s great, great niece. Megan then takes over to talk about the representation of women in conservation, introducing the panel who in turn discuss what nature means to them and explaining the backstory to an object that each has brought along to the Festival…
Off the Leash Podcasts has been proud to support the Emily Williamson Festival, celebrating female voices in conservation and Emily's legacy, which goes to show that one voice - anyone's voice - can make a difference. The Festival website remains live of course, if you’d like to learn more please go to emilywilliamsonstatue.com/festival