Online training

These courses are free to take and can be referred back to as many times as you like.

When you have completed one of our training resources, please consider taking part in one of our monitoring schemes. By learning to identify species, submitting records to the National Biodiversity Data Centre either through casual recording or our monitoring schemes, you will make a significant contribution to better understand how Ireland’s biodiversity is changing.

Marine Biodiversity Citizen Science

Do you want to learn how to tell periwinkles from topshells and sort bladderwrack from furbelows? Do you want to discover how to survey biodiversity on rocky shores and beaches? Well now you can with our new Marine Biodiversity Citizen Science online course designed for the beginner or improver.

From the comfort of your own armchair, using a laptop, tablet or smart phone, you can now learn how to become a Marine Biodiversity Citizen Scientist through our six-part online course covering:

  • Biodiversity and Citizen Science
  • Life on the Seashore and Seaweeds
  • Rocky Shore Molluscs
  • Other Rocky Shore Invertebrates
  • A Tale of Two Halves – the Bivalves
  • Coastal Fish and Explore Your Shore! Surveys

Complete the course at your own pace and test your growing knowledge with the end of module quizzes. Then put what you have learned into action by completing our six end-of-module Missions! Successfully complete the course and missions to receive a course completion certificate and be well placed to continue developing your skills in Marine Biodiversity recording.

Pearl-borerded Fritillary (Boloria euphrosyne) – Vlad Dinca

Identifying Ireland's butterflies

The National Biodiversity Data Centre have developed an online eCourse in butterfly identification. This course is suitable for those who are completely new to butterfly identification and those who want to brush up on their skills as another season of recording starts.

This is a detailed eCourse for butterfly identification, showing features of upper and lower wing and any physical differences between males and females. This resource can be used to complement our ‘swatches’ which are small handheld identification guides that can be used while you are out in the field. Swatches can be purchased through our online shop

Red Admiral (Vanessa atalanta) – Tricia Robertson

Garden Butterfly Monitoring Scheme

The Garden Butterfly Monitoring Scheme provides recorders with an opportunity to record butterflies in their gardens. Ireland has 32 resident and 3 common migrant butterfly species and while this is quite a manageable number to learn, we only cover the 20 most common butterfly species in the Garden Butterfly Monitoring Scheme and only takes 15 minutes of your time. This makes this recording scheme very accessible to beginners.

By going through this eCourse you will learn:

  1. How to identify the 20 garden butterfly species
  2. The methods for the Garden Butterfly Monitoring Scheme
  3. How to register your garden on the National Sampling Framework (video tutorial)
  4. How to submit your data (video tutorial)
  5. Butterfly identification support

If you would like the National Biodiversity Data Centre to register your garden for the scheme, please email butterflies@biodiversityireland.ie

Large Red Damselfly

Large Red Damselfly (Pyrrhosoma nymphula) – Kevin Murphy

Identifying Ireland's Dragonflies and Damselflies

The National Biodiversity Data Centre has developed online training modules in identifying Irish Dragonfly and Damselfly species, for this wishing to get involved in the Dragonfly Ireland 2019 – 2024 survey. The modules provide details of the identification features to look out for and a general introduction to the Dragonflies and Damselflies. The modules cover:

  • Introduction to Dragonflies & Damselflies
  • Damselflies: The Green and Red Damselflies (5 species)
  • Damselflies: The Blue Damselflies (6 species)
  • Test Your Knowledge Quiz – Name that Damsel!
  • Dragonflies: Hawkers and Emperors (8 species)
  • Dragonflies: Chasers, Skimmers & Darters (9 species)
  • Test Your Knowledge Quiz – Name that Dragon!

Red-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lapidarius) – John Breen

How to Identify, Record and Monitor Common Irish Bumblebees

Bumblebee Monitoring volunteer, Liz Gabbett, has collaborated with the National Biodiversity Database Centre ecologists to create an online resource for all citizen scientists who want to learn (or revise) how to recognize the six most common bumblebee species found in Ireland.

Currently, there are 21 bumblebee species found in Ireland, but if you first learn how to record the six common species, you will be able to recognize the less common species when you find them. When you find a bumblebee species you cannot identify there are more resources on the pollinators website or you can contact the Biodiversity Data Centre ecologists for assistance.

Limerick City and County Council and the European Green Leaf Award has sponsored the finalization costs of the course so it can be made freely available.