What’s new?
This page gives notices and pointers to (roughly) the last six months’ events of the Quekett Microscopical Club, some important forthcoming events, and any other items of interest we can’t find a place for elsewhere…
IMPORTANT INFORMATION REGARDING OUR MEMBERS’ AREA
Historically, members needed two sets of user names and passwords to access the two areas of our website (the membership portal and the members-only content), and this sometimes caused confusion. With effect from 1st March 2023 only one set of credentials is required, the username and password that they use to manage their membership in the membership portal.
If you have signed into your membership account since November 2022, you will be able to use these details to access the membership pages.
If you have not set up your membership portal account, you will need to do this before you can access the members-only pages of the website. Please set up your membership account here. When accessing the website or membership portal you must use the same e-mail address that we use to correspond with you.
Nikon 2023 Small World in Motion Competition
Wednesday 27th September 2023
The results are now available, and Quekett member Wim van Egmond has received an Honorary Mention for two of his videos:
Bacteria colonies (Lactobacillus paracasei)
Stacked image, 10× objective (Click the image to watch the video)
Bell animalcules (Vorticella) seen through an original Leeuwenhoek microscope
Bright-field, magnification 266× (Click the image to watch the video)
“Green Unseen”
Saturday 16th September until Sunday 5th November 2023
Lakeside Arts Centre, Nottingham University
An Exhibition of the hidden world of plants. Made up of tiny cells revealed only through a microscope, plants have a striking natural beauty and geometry of their own.
Organised by second-year Plant Science student Eleanor Kilpatrick, with support from the University’s Cascade grant programme.
Open Tuesday-Saturday, 10am-4pm
Sunday, 12noon-4pm
Closed Mondays
Admission free
Festival of Geology
Saturday, 4th November 2023
The Quekett will have a stand at this festival in London, as part of our microscopy outreach programme.
Pam Hamer is an active member of the Geologists’ Association and has provided this presentation as a way of introducing microscopy to geology.
Click the arrows to advance the slides, click on the ‘expand’ symbol at bottom right to fill the screen
Wimbledon Common Open Day
Sunday 10th September 2023
As part of the Club’s microscopy outreach programme, Quekett members participated in this free event on Wimbledon Common, based in the Information Centre (near the Windmill and the Rangers Office), using their microscopes to show specimens from the Common to children and adults.
Grove Park Carnival
Sunday 3rd September 2023 – 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
As part of the Club’s microscopy outreach programme, Quekett members will be participating in this free event in Chinbrook Meadows. We will be sharing a tent with Thames21 and using some simple microscopes to show specimens from the River Quaggy and other parts of the meadows to children and their parents.
Excursion to Warnham Local Nature Reserve
Saturday 5thAugust 2023. Warnham Local Nature Reserve (10:00 to 16:00).
Quekett Members are invited to a day at Warnham Local Nature Reserve to investigate the microscopical flora and fauna of this Local Nature Reserve, hosted by the Friends of Warnham Local Nature Reserve, by kind permission of the Wardens.
Read a report of this excursion (with several photomicrographs by Graham Matthews)
The L. V. Martin Lecture
The 2023 L. V. Martin Lecture will be held on Tuesday 11th July at 17:30 (GMT) in The Neil Chalmers Seminar Room, Natural History Museum, South Kensington, London.
This year’s lecture is “Desktop Scanning Electron Microscopy” and will be delivered by Dr Alex Ball, Head of the Imaging and Analysis Division at the Natural History Museum.
Watch a video of this lecture (Members only)
Protozoal Behaviour
Ron Lowe has started building a website featuring videos of different protozoa in order to collate and share analyses of types of protozoal behaviour, which is a poorly studied subject.
See more of Ron’s studies. Comments and contributions welcome.
The Quekett Annual Exhibition of Microscopy
Saturday 14th October 2023
Quekex, the Club’s Annual Exhibition, will again be held at the Elm Court Youth and Community Centre, Mutton Lane, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire, EN6 3BP.
This is the Club’s premier exhibition event, where experts and novices show off their work, and where everybody can share in the microscopical world. Entries on any microscopical topic are invited, and the best images may be exhibited on the Club website and may be reproduced for use at Club and outreach events. Copyright remains with the author.
Entries may be submitted in one or more of the following categories. Clicking the appropriate link will take you to the Rules and how you can enter.
- Quekex Main Exhibition
- Barnard Award for Excellence in Photomicrography (Still Images)
- Barnard Award for Excellence in Photomicrography (Videos)
- Eric Marson Award for Slide Preparation
- Quekett Award for Micrographic Art
With members around the world, Quekex is an opportunity for Members to come together to share what they have been doing during the last year, and to encourage and inspire other members and visitors.
Home Counties Meeting (Essex)
Saturday 10th June 2023
The fourth of a series of full-day meetings in the Home Counties that we hope will encourage more members to attend face-to-face events because they will not have to travel into central London.
A Little Artificial Intelligence
With all the current headlines about Artificial Intelligence we thought you might like to see the AI poem the Manchester Microscopical Society used to publicise and celebrate World Microscope Day in April. Mike Mahon of the MMS couldn’t help wondering with all the recent doomsday publicity about AI conquering the world coupled with the knowledge that tardigrades can survive extreme environments such as space vacuum, extreme high and low temperatures and pressures and high radiation as to who will win and survive – AI or tardigrades, certainly not humans! His money is on the tardigrades! (and if you look at the poem you’ll see that Shakespeare needn’t worry just yet….)
Chinbrook Meadows Nature Discovery Day
Tuesday 30th May 2023
As a contribution to London Rivers Week, CPRE London coordinated an event involving several organisations including the Quekett Microscopical Club – providing a free and family-friendly Nature Discovery Day.
Presidential Address 2023
May 16th 2023
Steve Gill’s third, and final address (Members only)