Reading Botany

Summer School For Aspiring Plant Scientists
2020-07-28 09:00 - 2020-07-30 17:00 (Europe/London) | South London Botanical Institute, 323 Norwood Road, London, SSE24 9AQ, United Kingdom
3 days of tasters in botany, biology, horticulture and related subjects (NB bursaries are available to cover costs of attendance)

An action packed 3 days for school leavers going on to further education in botany, biology, horticulture or other related subjects giving you a chance to explore Plant Science, Biology and related subjects in new and exciting ways. Take part in hands-on practical workshops using the SLBI’s garden, library and herbarium, as well as botanical walks in local urban streets and parks. Sessions will be led by some of the country’s most experienced botanists and tutors, such as Dr Jonathan Mitchley and Dr Mark Spencer, allowing you to increase your knowledge and skills, and to consider a range of areas for further plant science education and work.

Tackling the roots of plant-blindness
2020-06-09 10:00 - 17:00 | School of Geography University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, United Kingdom
Plant blindness (the inability of people to recognise and identify even common plant species compared to a generally reasonable ability to recognise animals) is a major problem. Fewer university courses contain significant identification or taxonomy components, and university students (and the general public) show a clear lack of knowledge around plant identification. This becomes particularly concerning when we consider that many major global challenges, from food security to climate change, rely on plants for some component of their solutions.
Our event will bring together experts from a range of academic and industry areas to discuss plant blindness, its implications and how to tackle it. We will have a series of keynotes and lightning presentations and finish with a workshop. The workshop will focus on strategies to (1) tackle plant blindness; (2) improve the teaching of plant identification and better incorporate these skills into a wide array of degrees (e.g. general biology, ecology and physical geography degrees); and (3) consider if “plant blindness” is a problematic term and, if so, what could replace it. We will produce a short written piece for publication focusing on the issues and solutions identified during the meeting.
Location
School of Geography
University of Leeds
LS2 9JT
Keynote speakers

Dr Jonathan Mitchley, Associate Professor of Field Botany, University of Reading
Dr Susannah Lydon, Assistant Professor in Plant Sciences, University of Nottingham
Dr Mark Fennell, Associate Director of AECOM and expert in invasive plant ecology and management

Botanical University Challenge 2020
2020-02-19 14:00 - 16:30 | Ness Botanic Gardens, Neston Road , Little Neston, Neston, CH64 4AY
Botanical University Challenge was the brainchild of John Warren, Jonathan Mitchley (aka Dr M) and Paul Ashton and the first event took place at Kew Gardens in March 2016 and was chaired by James Wong. The second challenge was held at University of Reading last year (March 2019) and was chaired by Chris Preston.

The event has proved very popular and is a fun way to celebrate and promote botany and 2020 will see the third challenge hosted by the 2019 runners up: The University of Liverpool.
The local organiser is Dr Meriel Jones and she says:
Question rounds will include UK wild plants and ecology, terminology, plant identification and diversity, food plants, plants in UK and world culture – indeed all the interests of the enthusiastic botanist! This is a great early Spring event to inspire you to look again at the countryside around you.
Competing teams of students from Liverpool, Edge Hill, Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan, Lancaster, York, Reading and Aberystwyth Universities will compete for botanical kudos and the winners and runners up trophies in this quiz about all things botanical.
The event will be held on Wednesday 19th February 2020 starting at 14.00 in the Lecture Theatre at the Visitors Centre, Ness Botanic Gardens.
Entry is free and does not require entry to Ness Botanic Gardens, to help the organisers and to avoid disappointment please book your place here.
The contest starts at 2 pm and teams will meet before hand for a briefing from the organisers.
For the audience, if you arrive early please feel free to enjoy the gardens before the event and entry to Ness Botanic Gardens is at normal winter rates.
Also available on the day: Ness Botanic Gardens, Gift Shop and Botanic Kitchen Café 10:00 – 16:30 (last admission to garden and orders at café 16:00)
Dr M says: Some countdown sample questions for you to test your botanical knowledge are appearing on alternate days on Twitter check @readingbotany.
If you Tweet about this event please use @BUC2020 and #BUC2020.
For further information please contact Meriel Jones m.g.jones@liverpool.ac.uk

University of Reading Annual Christmas Lecture by Dr M
2019-12-17 16:30 - 17:30
The University of Reading’s annual Children’s Christmas Lecture is a fun and interactive event for children aged between seven and twelve. Each year one of our academics brings their subject to life for this seasonal event.
For 2019 this Christmas lecture is the final event of Reading Botany 2019 our year-long celebration of botany at Reading. In this festive lecture, Dr M will take his audience on a journey around the wonderful world of trees and will drawing our focus on the Christmas tree in a scientific winter botanical wonderland! Dr M’s aim is modest, he aims to to transform your view of plants, forever!
This event is now fully booked follow the link here to be added to the waiting list.

#AdventBotany
2019-12-01 - 2019-12-25 | @RNGherb
In 2014 the idea developed of posting a Tweet, blog and Facebook entry for one plant related to Christmas for each day of advent. At the end of that year it seemed there were far too many plants to cover in just 25 days. In 2015 and 2016 new plants appeared and some previous ones were revisited. This challenging task has been shared among a group of volunteers from around the world. Each has a novel story to tell about a plant dear to them or linked to local Christmas customs. Huge thanks to the many contributors during those first three years.
The call for 2019 will open later in the year watch this space and keep an eye on @RNGherb on Twitter.

Symposium: The Big Botany Challenge - Promoting Passion for Plants in our Schools
2019-11-08 09:00 - 16:30 | Meadow Suite
School teachers and students unite for the love of plants! This highlight of our Reading Botany 2019 celebrations takes place on Friday 8th November 09.30-4.30 in the Meadow Suite, University of Reading.
We will debate the most effective ways to enhance the profile, coverage and understanding of plants in secondary biology education. Come and join us!
Registration is now closed.
Please contact Dr Jonathan Mitchley (j.mitchley@reading.ac.uk) if you still wish to attend.
Check the Symposium Programme here.

Poaceae: He's singing our song!
2019-10-15 19:30 - 21:00
This is a public talk given by Dr Jonathan Mitchley, Associate Professor of Field Botany at the University of Reading, who, under his web persona Dr M, composed the Poaceae song! (www.drmgoeswild.com). Grasses are considered difficult to identify but the Poaceae is a very important family globally, and in the UK many grasses are key ecological indicators of site conditions. It is also very satisfying to be able to identify at least common grasses. This talk will include examination of living material and will provide tips for a better understanding of this family of grasses green and wonderful!

Enhancing Fieldwork Learning Showcase Event 2019
2019-09-12 - 2019-09-13
Enhancing Fieldwork Learning Showcase 2019
School of Agriculture, Policy & Development, University of Reading, Rooms 1L06 & 1L08
You are invited to attend and contribute to the 9th Annual Showcase event run by the Enhancing Fieldwork Learning project in collaboration with the British Ecological Society. Building on the previous Showcases, the event aims to share ideas and practice with regards to innovative field Teaching and Learning; with an emphasis on the use of mobile technologies.
As this year marks the 50th year of teaching Botany Masters Degrees at the University of Reading, the Showcase will involve an interactive, field botany-based activity led by Drs Jonathan Mitchley and Alastair Culham.
We also have a confirmed Keynote talk from Dr Matthew Nicholls from Oxford University about how he combines a 3D digital model of Ancient Rome with fieldwork in contemporary Rome to provide students with an insight into the appearance of the ancient city.
The event will be of interest to fieldwork practitioners from a range of disciplines including Geology, Physical and Human Geography, Environmental and Ecological Sciences, Agriculture, Archaeology and the wider Biosciences. It will be relevant to those early in their teaching career as well as those more experienced academics looking to upskill and innovate their teaching practice in the field.
The event will run from mid-morning on Thursday 12th September to lunchtime on Friday 13th September at the University of Reading. The 24hr interactive experience will include presentations of innovative teaching practices as well as practical field experiences.
The meeting cost is £42.23 to cover registration and food. Information of local accommodation is available on request.
Booking for delegates is through Eventbrite
Follow @fieldwork_ntf on Twitter for the latest updates or for further information please contact Alice Mauchline a.l.mauchline@reading.ac.uk or visit the EFL website www.enhancingfieldwork.org.uk.

Reading Botany Reunion Party!
2019-07-27 13:00 | Meadow Suite
Celebrate 50 years and more of Reading Botany
As Reading Botanists are aware, 2019 is the 50th anniversary of masters’ botany teaching at the University of Reading and over 100 years of Reading Botany research and teaching more broadly.
We are celebrating this milestone with a year of events under the umbrella title of Reading Botany 2019 and our main botanical alumnus event is the Reading Botany Reunion Party taking place in the Meadow Suite on the Whiteknights campus from 13.00 on Saturday 27 July 2019.
We anticipate many alumni plus past and present staff will attend this special event, with guests of honour Vernon Heywood and Peter Crane already confirmed. There will also be many past and present students attending and it will be a happy botanical celebration with a BBQ, a cash bar and events such as a specially curated botany spot test to bring back happy memories!
Tickets for the event are just £25 per person and include a BBQ and welcome drink. Make sure you don’t miss out! Booking for this event is now closed if you still want to attend please email j.mitchley@reading.ac.uk.
We look forward to seeing you there.
Julie Hawkins, Professor of Plant Systematics and Evolution
Jonathan Mitchley, Associate Professor of Field Botany
Alastair Culham, Associate Professor of Botany

Wild About Reading!
2019-07-27 10:00 - 2019-08-03 17:00

Summer Science Party for teachers at the Garden Museum, Lambeth
2019-06-25 17:00 - 21:00 | The Garden Museum, Lambeth Palace Road, London, SE1 7LB, United Kingdom
This is one of a series of summer science parties aimed at teachers from Lambeth and the wider London area and held at the Garden Museum, Lambeth, on Tuesday 25th June, from 5.00 pm onwards.
The aim is to provide teachers with botany and plant-related CPD and the chance to visit the Clore Learning Space and the museum. The evening includes a guest speaker followed by ‘bowl food’, wine and a tour of the Garden museum including the Medieval Tower.
For this event the guest speaker is Dr M who will explain why, when, where and how he goes wild about plants! He will discuss ways to enthuse the younger generation with plants both inside and outside the schools curriculum. The aim is to be fun and educational and to leave teachers feeling invigorated and injected with renewed enthusiasm for plants in their teaching!
The Garden museum is based in London next to Lambeth Palace and opposite Lambeth Bridge, it is a charity with the remit of teaching the plant science component of Biology at key stages 3, 4 and 5 to secondary school pupils with the aim of bringing plants to life for pupils and ignite their curiosity in the form, function and relevance of all plant life.
If you are interested in attending spaces are limited so please email Samia Qureshi – samia@gardenmuseum.org.uk.

Pint of Science
2019-05-21 19:30 - 21:30 | http://smokingbillys.co.uk/
The Pint of Science festival aims to make science accessible to a wide public. On Tuesday 21st May Dr M will take the role of MC for “Our Shared Planet” theme and introduces three speakers each dealing with a topical science theme and including Q&A sessions. During the evening Dr M will invite the pubic to share in a mini version of the highly successful Botanical University Challenge (20 February) and test their botanical wisdom and know-how and demonstrate the innate beauty, fascination and vital importance of plants to us and our shared planet!
Image credit: @karenblakeman

RHS Chelsea Flower Show
2019-05-21 - 2019-05-25 | RHS Chelsea
Visit the University of Reading education stand and meet Tomos Jones PhD student at University of Reading. This NERC SCENARIO project investigates the possible impacts of climate change on the distribution of garden plants, and their interaction with our native flora. We are often told about the impact of invasive garden plants, such as Rhododendron x superponticum, but which of our garden plants might be problematic in the (not-so-distant) future? Come and visit Tomos’ stand and find out!

Fascination of Plants Day
2019-05-15 | Harborne Building
Following from our first successful “Why are plants smelly?” event for British Science Week (10th March) “Why are plants smelly 2” is our schools outreach event for the International Fascination of Plants Day. We invite schools’ science groups to the University of Reading campus to join scientists from the School of Biological Sciences and Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Sciences to ask why is it that some plants smell so nice and sweet while others are really quite grossly stinky?! There will be a range of activities both in the laboratory and outside on the University of Reading’s prize-winning green campus. School groups will examine the different ways in which plants try to attract other organisms (e.g. pollinating bees and hoverflies) while doing their best to repel others such as insect herbivores intent on eating them! We guarantee you will leave looking at plants in a totally new way!
We are grateful for financial support from the British Ecological Society
Outreach Grant OR18/1187 Why are plants smelly?

Museums Week
2019-05-13 - 2019-05-19
#MuseumWeek 2019 is taking place from 13 to 19 May, bringing together cultural institutions from all over the world based on the idea of “7 days, 7 themes, 7 hashtags”.
It features various themes such as exploration, photography and play, but also the role of women in culture yesterday, today and tomorrow to mark #WomenInCulture Day, the high point of this sixth edition.
Reading Botany will be celebrating #MuseumWeek with regular tweets from the University of Reading herbarium @RNGHerb.

Go Potty in the Harris Garden!
2019-04-14 14:00 - 17:00 | Harris Garden
This is a fun-filled family event in the University of Reading’s beautiful Harris Garden, entry is free and yes there will be bunting, it’s a proper garden party!
There will be a stall selling tea, cakes and refreshments and plant-themed activities and side-shows for everyone including:

House & Garden Plant Sales;
Easter Garden Hunt;
Plant a Sunflower with Tomos the Welsh Daffodil;
Plant Identification Challenge with Dr M and colleagues – we test your knowledge and award you a botany certificate! You can also bring plant samples for our experts to identify!;
Guided Garden Tours;
Coconut Shy & other garden party games;
STOP PRESS: Our brand new golden anniversary ale: Whiteknights Cedar will be available for responsible tasting and purchase; and
Botanical themed raffle.

All proceeds in Aid of Reading Botany 2019 the 50th Anniversary of Botany Masters Celebrations!

Why are plants smelly?
2019-03-10 12:00 - 15:00 | Harborne Building
Ever sniffed a plant, whether nice or nasty and wondered: why do plants smell? Well, wonder no more, we have just the thing for you – our “why are plants smelly” British Science Week event. Total immersion in smelly plants, both sweet and stinky, scratching and sniffing them, discussing the chemical basis of the aromas, their roles in plant defence and pollination, and the human dimensions: food, medicines and health. Join us for a botanical aromatic extravaganza for all the family!

Botanical University Challenge
2019-02-20 13:00 - 18:00 | Madejski Lecture Theatre, Berkshire, rg28jb
When and where was the first Botanical University Challenge held? The brainchild of the University of Reading’s very own Dr Jonathan Mitchley and Dr John Warren (Aberystwyth University), it was held at Kew in 2016! It was a great success and this second event celebrates botany, botanists and the beauty and importance of plants in the 21st century. In this fun event, University teams will compete for the coveted trophy by answering questions on plant related topics.

Team meeting
2018-06-08 08:00 - 17:00 | Chancelor’s building Room 3L45, University of Reading, reading, United Kingdom (UK), rg6
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Seminar
2018-05-29 08:00 - 17:00 | Chancelor’s building Room 3L45, University of Reading, reading, United Kingdom (UK), rg6
