The 'Dirty Business' series is heavily based on an almost decade-long investigation by the group Windrush Against Sewage Pollution (WASP), interwoven with powerful and often harrowing personal stories. Here Chris Dessent, Chair of the FBA Board, presents a personal perspective urging all those who care about our freshwaters to watch the three-part docu-drama, available on Channel 4 catch-up.

We are delighted to announce that the 2026 meeting, in partnership with Edinburgh Napier University, will be shining a light on ‘Emerging approaches for freshwater science’. Covering a range of new approaches including bio/hydro acoustics, eDNA, citizen science, drones and the emerging role of machine learning.

In 2018, a collaborative project commenced between Natural Resources Wales, the Freshwater Habitats Trust and the FBA to begin breeding Afon Irfon freshwater pearl mussels. Working in partnership on both catchment management and conservation breeding will give this vulnerable population the best chance of recovery.

It is with a heavy heart that the FBA is sharing the sad news of the recent passing of Dr Brenda Leese BSc, PhD, BTEC. Here FBA Fellow Elizabeth Haworth reflects on her time spent with Brenda working on the FBA Fritsch Collection, shining a light on her successful scientific career, and achievements as an author and advocate for the forgotten women of botanical science.

Europe’s environmental safeguards are currently facing unprecedented pressure. Under the banner of “simplification” and “cutting red tape”, key laws designed to protect clean water, biodiversity, and public health risk being weakened. The FBA strongly endorses the 'Hands Off Nature' petition. We would encourage our members and the wider scientific community to 'use your voices' to back this important campaign to protect Europe’s environmental laws to support freshwaters.

A new exhibition – ‘Encounters with the Calder’ – is a personal exploration of the impact and influence of human activity along West Yorkshire’s River Calder, by local photographer and riverfly monitor Jim Souper. Following the course of the Calder, the black & white photographs depict layers of history in the landscape from medieval times to the present day. It was a great pleasure to catch up with Jim to find out more.

Here we have the great pleasure of catching up with Dr. Kurt Fausch to discover more about ‘A Reverence for Rivers: Imagining an Ethic for Running Waters’. Join us for a delightful dive into the inspiration and science that motivated Kurt’s latest book, and be enthralled by his optimism for future river conservation and our relationship with these incredible freshwater ecosystems.

Last year we carried out an in-depth recruitment process for new FBA board members, and we are very honoured to start 2026 with a warm welcome to Gavin Sorby, Tracey Griffiths, Jennifer Dodd and Tim Boden. With a strengthened board we look forward to working together to inspire local and global action to protect freshwater ecosystems through science. This collective action is more urgent than ever.

2025 has been another fantastic and busy year for the Riverfly Partnership. The volunteer network has continued to grow, reaching new geographical locations with new groups coming aboard from the rivers of Cornwall to the west coast of Wales, over to the Northern Ireland and all the way up to the Highlands of Scotland.

The freshwater pearl mussel is critically endangered, with the youngest individuals in most populations being over 80 years old because the juvenile mussels aren't surviving. Research led by Louise Lavictoire, FBA’s Head of Science revealed why the earliest life stages are so vulnerable. Using scanning electron microscopy, the research provides one of the most detailed studies to date of how juvenile mussels develop after leaving their salmonid host fish.

The freshwater science community has lost one of its most respected and influential members with the passing of Professor Peter Maitland FRSE on 24 November 2025. He was aged 87. Here Professor Colin Bean, FBA Honorary Life Fellow, looks back at Peter’s formidable career in aquatic science and freshwater conservation policy.

The FBA, together with the Institute of Fisheries Management, and supported by the Environment Agency, convened the Arctic Charr Symposium in Newcastle on 1–2 October 2025. The event brought together freshwater scientists, conservation practitioners and local stakeholders to examine the current status of Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) in the UK and to identify priority research and conservation actions.

Carl Sayer is Professor of Limnology and Freshwater Ecology at UCL. We were delighted that Carl was able to attend the FBA ASM to deliver a keynote talk on ghost ponds. These pond resurrections are an incredible example of ecological restoration in rapid response times. Here we have the pleasure of sharing a deep dive with Carl into the fascinating world of ghost ponds, and their potent power for ecological and palaeoecological regeneration.

Arctic charr are of global ecological importance and Windermere charr populations have been studied since the 1940s, but their cultural significance in the Lake District dates back hundreds of years. We're thrilled to present a new film by Dave George about this iconic species, and we had the enormous pleasure of catching up with Dave to find out about his inspiration and motivation for the film, which explores the threats facing Arctic charr and their cultural importance in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales.

In October, FBA staff visited the Cynrig and Clywedog hatcheries operated by Natural Resources Wales (NRW), the locations of two out of the four breeding programmes for freshwater pearl mussels in the UK. The trip was an invaluable opportunity for knowledge exchange and cooperation between the FBA and NRW, to continuously learn and improve the success of freshwater pearl mussel propagation.

Led by the Freshwater Biological Association in partnership with Natural England, and funded through Defra’s Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment (NCEA) programme, Lakefly empowers volunteers to survey freshwater invertebrates, tiny creatures that live in the shallow margins of lakes and provide important clues about water quality. Using a simple sampling method and easy-to-learn identification guide, Lakefly volunteers collect valuable data that can help detect pollution, track ecological changes, and support better management of our freshwater ecosystems.

Launched in June 2022, the BWS engaged trained volunteers in a coordinated programme of field sampling, supported by professional laboratory analysis. Over 2.5 years, volunteers collected water samples at more than 100 sites across the Leven catchment. The scale of this participatory effort has revealed spatial and temporal patterns of nutrient enrichment and bacterial hotspots that place Windermere under significant ecological stress.

Here at the FBA Ark tagging freshwater pearl mussels is an important activity as part of our species recovery programme. The tagging allows us to assign a unique identification number to each of our mussels, so we can monitor their individual growth over time. Here we catch up with Jodie Warren, Assistant Kent Project Officer & Assistant Pearl Mussel Officer, and Samantha Bonny, River Kent Project Officer, to find out more about the freshwater pearl mussel tagging process.

We had the great pleasure of Professor Julia Martin-Ortega presenting the final Keynote at the FBA Annual Scientific Meeting in June. Rounding off the day with an intensely poignant and memorable deep dive into Riverkin, an approach hoping to help people remake vital relationships with rivers and freshwaters. Here we catch up with Julia Martin-Ortega and Dr Josh Cohen from water@leeds, at the University of Leeds, for a Q&A to find out more about Riverkin.

We are pleased to share, as a matter of urgency, a statement of support for a swift and adequate update of the EU water pollution standards under the Environmental Quality Standards Directive, also amending the Water Framework Directive and the Groundwater Directive. The statement has been signed by over 600 scientists around the world, concerned about freshwaters health, and supporting a call for immediate action for freshwater ecosystems.