Potentino Biodiversity Expedition with Taxon Expeditions 2024

Join our scientific expedition to explore the biodiversity of Potentino Valley and discover new species.

Student price  €3,000 per person, €4,500 for others.

 In spring 2023 the ground floor of Castello di Potentino will once again temporarily be transformed into a veritable scientific laboratory. A team of scientists together with the members of the general public will explore the biodiversity of Potentino Valley with a mission to discover new species. The expedition is organised by Taxon Expeditions

Their research will be focused on insects and other tiny animals that are poorly known and often neglected when it comes to conservation. But, at Potentino, we are determined to change that. We understand that these small animals are crucial constituents of ecosystems where they perform many important functions and keep our land healthy. Therefore, we are committed to studying them and protecting them.

Taxon Expeditions is a Dutch "scientific travel agency" which organises real scientific expeditions in which international teams of biodiversity experts and lay people jointly explore undiscovered biodiversity. So far, on their 2022 expedition, the team have identified 152 species of beetles and 25 species of molluscs in Potentino Valley, but that is just a start.

They will be back 24 May - 1 June 2024 and everyone is welcome to join them and learn about the secret lives of tiny creepy crawlies and enjoy the beauty of our Valley.

On this unique trip you will:

• Work with entomologists to operate fancy insect trapping devices with exotic names like Malaise Trap, Baited Pitfall Trap, and the Winkler Eclector
• Crawl into a limestone cave and search for unsuspected cavernicolous lifeforms
• Extract DNA from snails and insects and perform your own PCR tests on them
• Walk the fields like a real old-fashioned naturalist with butterfly net, field book, and botany box at hand
• Explore several state-of-the-art apps for species identification with Artificial Intelligence
• Learn the age-old techniques for setting and pinning insects
• Not for the fainthearted: dissect snails and slugs and discover all about their gender-bending genitalia
• Set up, run, and complete your very own multi-day biodiversity research project (with a help of our experts)
• Write a real scientific article, and, if you want, present your results to the whole team in a mini conference setting in the castle’s grand dining hall
• Enjoy thrilling evening lectures by the expedition experts, while sipping wine and sampling cheese
• Stay in an impressive room in the castle, enjoy local cuisine and organically produced wine

 To book a spot contact Taxon Expeditions: info@taxonexpeditions.com