300 people booked to attend the 2023 British & Irish Botanical Conference, held on Saturday 2nd December at the Curtis Auditorium, Herschel Building, Newcastle University. The Conference was a joint event organised by BSBI in association with the Natural History Society of Northumbria (NHSN). The programme featured ten talks, four flash talks, 38 exhibits, Summerfield Books' pop-up shop, a workshop/demo by Prof John Richards (BSBI expert referee on Dandelions), a behind-the-scenes tour of the NHSN Archive, and much more. If you weren't able to join us in person, the links below will allow you to enjoy recordings of the talks and view some of the exhibits.
The Talks
Session 1: Developing a passion for urban botany
- Urban plants of Newcastle – James Common (Senior Naturalist, NHSN/ BSBI joint County Recorder for North Northumberland)
- Building a diverse community of botanists through urban botany walks for beginners - Amanda Tuke (Co-Chair, BSBI Skills & Training Committee)
- Old plant communities in urban areas – Martin Allen (botanical surveyor and artist)
- What Plant Atlas 2020 tells us about urban plants – Chris Metherell (NHSN Botany Specialist Group Co-ordinator/ BSBI joint County Recorder for North Northumberland)
Session 2: Supporting botanical research to help address biodiversity loss and climate change
- Refinding and conserving the rare plants of Hoylake on the Wirral - Joshua Styles & Jane Turner (ecologists)
- Ireland’s Lusitanian Flora – mining, smuggling, pilgrimages & the Ericaceae - Micheline Sheehy Skeffington (BSBI President)
Session 3: Resources to sustain and develop the botanical community
- Getting started with plant ID – Natasha Foxford (beginner botanist)
- How Botanical University Challenge can help address the lack of field ID skills provision in higher education – Sebastian Stroud (Postgraduate Researcher in urban ecology, University of Leeds and Jonathan Mitchley (Associate Professor of Field Botany, University of Reading)
- Frustrating flowers and puzzling plants – John Warren (author and former Professor of Botany, University of Aberystwyth)
- Identiplant and FISC: how BSBI is supporting the development and assessment of plant ID skills - Chantal Helm (BSBI Training Coordinator)
British & Irish Botanical Conference 2023
The Exhibits
Our 38 exhibits included some, e.g Brian Laney's Big Wildflower Seed Giveaway, Alaa Afalsaqer's colourful flowers and table displays by the Wild Flower Society and the Field Studies Council, which cannot be shared with you in electronic form - you really had to be there on the day to enjoy these exhibits! But where it proved possible to upload an online version of an exhibit, we have done so. The listing below also provides links where possible to websites, social media accounts and contact details.
Guest exhibits
- Maybud Campbell's expeditions to the Outer Hebrides (1936-1948) - Christopher Dixon - email.
- Comparing Biodiversity on Green Roofing and Adjacent Habitats in London - Jennifer Ball - email.
- Mapping Potential Mountain Woodland Vegetation in the Western Highlands through a Study of Western Norway - Innes Manders - email.
- Botanical University Challenge: Past, Present and Future - Jonathan Mitchley/ Seb Stroud - email - website - Twitter - Instagram
- Survey of Antennaria dioica, a Teesdale flora - Falgunee Sarker - email - website
- Polypody in Hayley Wood - Monica Frisch - email
- Festive citizen science: a new app to record European mistletoe abundance - Oliver Spacey - email - app
- Petty Whin & Dyer's Greenweed - Barry Jobson - email
BSBI exhibits
- BSBI Field Meetings 2024
- How BSBI can help you
- Identiplant
- BSBI grants for training, plant study and research
- New Year Plant Hunt
- National Plant Monitoring Scheme
- BSBI Handbooks
Here is the complete list of all the exhibitors with contact details, links to websites and social media etc.
The Team
Thank you to all our speakers, exhibitors and the team behind the Conference!
A huge thank you to BSBI volunteers Billy, Kylie, Nicola and Ryan from BSBI Events & Comms Committee; Lindsay-Anne for recording the event for TikTok; staff members Julia, Louise and Sarah; and Dandelion referee John Richards.
Thanks also to our hosts, the Natural History Society of Northumbria: Aimee (on the NHSN stand), Alex (AV support), James Common (Senior Naturalist), Clare Freeman (Director), Kris McKie (archivist), Gordon Port (Chair) and Julie Ross (Senior Nature Ranger).
Finally, thanks to our three session Chairs: Steve Gater, Chris Metherell and Julia Hanmer (BSBI Chief Executive).
