Frances Baines to receive BIAZA Honorary Membership

Frances Baines has been pivotal in driving significant improvements in the way that BIAZA collections provide heat and light, initially for reptiles and amphibians but now for a whole range of taxa in captivity. So much so that she has now been granted BIAZA Honorary Membership. 

Frances coordinated and led the development of the BIAZA UV tool which was published in JZAR and was a collaborative effort between a number of different BIAZA members. This resource is the key reference point used by zoos and aquariums in assessing the UV requirements of specific species. Frances was a keynote speaker at the EAZA European Zoo Nutrition Conference Jan 2019 - ‘If all our animals need full spectrum lighting, how can we provide it? Frances has designed and delivered numerous lighting and heating orientated workshops for the BIAZA and the wider zoo community, over the years and has also advised on lighting and heating for other taxonomic groups. In addition, Frances also coordinates the reptile and amphibian working group (RAWG) heating and lighting focus group and is an extremely active member of the RAWG steering group. Frances has also produced several high quality reptile care sheets for BIAZA. Frances is always on hand to help, testing new lighting and heating products and providing recommendations to the BIAZA community on their appropriateness. Frances is usually the first to provide feedback on documents and resources and these suggestions are based on evidence and a wealth of experience. She regularly provides visits and consultation to BIAZA collections, advising them on the best way to adapt their enclosures for suitable UV, heat, and light provision. The BIAZA community is extremely fortunate to have Frances on hand to support and guide us as we advance husbandry techniques and improve animal welfare.

Numerous glowing testimonies for Frances' BIAZA Honorary Membership were received from a wide variety of collections. In the words of one RAWG member, "The way Frances led us to critically re-think and improve our husbandry techniques and the amount of improvement of knowledge and quality of animal husbandry resulted from this is immeasurable. Through her passion and knowledge, BIAZA institutions are now without doubt the most advanced zoos worldwide when it comes to appropriate lighting of animal enclosures. A BIAZA honorary membership can hopefully be a small way of saying THANK YOU!"