Reading Botany

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.

Poaceae: He's singing our song!
2019-10-15 19:30 - 21:00 (Europe/London)
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!

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.

#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.

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.

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

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

Summer School For Aspiring Plant Scientists
2020-07-28 09:00 - 2020-07-30 17:00 | 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.

Celebrating Botanic Gardens: Past, Present and Future
2021-10-21 14:00 - 2021-10-22 20:00 | Zoom Webinar, United Kingdom
Oxford Botanic Garden celebrates turning 400 with an incredible, online, international symposium.
We are partnering with Oxford Botanic Garden to celebrate their 400th anniversary! ‘Celebrating Botanic Gardens: Past, Present and Future’, is an international, online symposium comprising 26 world renowned speakers from 22 botanic gardens, arboreta, herbaria across the globe. The conference will shine a light on the vital work botanic gardens do around the world with four fascinating sessions on horticulture, research, education and conservation. It’s free to attend and you can register for your place here: https://www.obga.ox.ac.uk/event/celebrating-botanic-gardenspast-present-and-future. Spaces are limited so don’t miss out!
Sponsored by Plants, People, Planet and the New Phytologist Foundation.

Botanical University Challenge
2022-02-16 14:00 - 17:00 | Zoom Webinar, United Kingdom
Come online and watch University teams competing to answer questions about the fascinating worlds of botany and plant science in this popular contest invented by Dr John Warren and Dr Jonathan Mitchley which has been running since 2016.
The contest is sponsored by the New Phytologist Foundation and takes place on February 16th and 23rd 2022 from 2-5pm and both events are free so register on Eventbrite at the link below to come online and watch the live stream.
February 16th 2-5 pm teams from ca. twenty different institutions compete in an elimination pub-quiz style event chaired by Honor Prentice (Lund University, Sweden) & Chris Thorogood (Oxford Botanical Garden and Arboretum).
February 23rd 2-5 pm – the dramatic quarter-final, semi-final and final rounds – see separate post.
