Collecting gas, not creatures

 

Dr Deborah Pearce of Oxford Brookes University collecting samples of methane from a pond yesterday on the Loddington estate of the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust

 

Often when we visit ponds we’re collecting samples of the creatures living there to find out what the condition of the pond is.

But here we are (this is Dr Deborah Pearce of Oxford Brookes University who is supervising PhD student Ruth Shaw who’s project this is) collecting gas from a pond.

And why are we doing this? To find out how much carbon is trapped in ponds – which ought to be good for the planet – and how much methane and other greenhouse cases – is released from ponds. Which is a bit more problematic.