New BSBI eBooks
We are delighted to have launched BSBI eBooks this week; a new way to access and use BSBI's fantastic catalogue of botanical publications. All current titles are available here.
For VCRs and Referees In recognition of the contribution of time and effort VCRs and Referees make to the life of BSBI, those in these roles are being given free access to the new digital library of BSBI publications, including handbooks. If you’re a Referee or VCR, you should have received an email this week with details of how to access the resource. If you haven’t received this email, please let me know.
Sarah Woods, BSBI Fundraising Manager
Introducing our new Northern Ireland Botanical Skills Officer
We have just appointed Jen Farrar as Botanical Skills Officer for our DAERA-funded project in Northern Ireland. Jen has previously worked as a botany lecturer at RBGE as well as teaching plant identification at Gatsby Plant Science Summer School.
Her start date is the 23rd October and she will be based, in-part, in the DAERA offices in Belfast but will travel widely across Northern Ireland to meet with VCRs, recorders and partners, and to deliver training.
James Harding-Morris, BSBI Countries Support Manager
BSBI data in State of Nature report
The State of Nature 2023 report was launched on 27th September to wide media coverage. It makes sobering reading about UK biodiversity loss but also sets out what can be done to reverse the declines. BSBI has been a State of Nature partner since 2013 and some of the starkest findings in this year’s report, about declines in wild plant distributions, were drawn from Plant Atlas 2020, to which many botanical recorders contributed. Visit the BSBI State of Nature page to find out how your plant records fed into this important new report.
Kevin Walker, BSBI Head of Science
Growing Identiplant across Britain and Ireland
Identiplant, the online training course for beginners in serious botany, is now run by BSBI, and we're keen to increase the numbers of students - and the Tutors to support them - across Britain and Ireland.
Would you like to know more about becoming an Identiplant Tutor? After a successful workshop in Scotland in September, we will be holding an online Identiplant Tutor event on 30th October 7pm for anyone across Britain and Ireland wanting to find out more about what the role entails.
Sign up now at Growing Identiplant across Britain and Ireland 30 Oct 2023!
If you can’t make the event, but are still interested in becoming a Tutor, you can find more information on the Identiplant website or email us at identiplant@bsbi.org
Chantal Helm, BSBI Training Coordinator
Upcoming Committee for England meeting
The Committee for England will be meeting on 16th October. If any member in England has any requests for the Committee please send them to me. If you are interested in the work of the Committee and might be interested in joining, we’d be delighted to hear from you. We are looking for younger botanists in particular, especially if you use social media.
Jonathan Shanklin, Chair, BSBI Committee for England
British & Irish Botanical Conference 2023
Bookings have now opened for this year’s British & Irish Botanical Conference, which will take place on Saturday 2nd December at the Curtis Auditorium, Herschel Building, Newcastle University.
The draft programme, available here, includes sessions on urban botany, on BSBI research and on plant ID resources. We will also have exhibits, posters, a workshop/demo by Prof John Richards (BSBI expert referee on Dandelions), a behind-the-scenes tour of the NHSN Archive, a plant ID quiz and Summerfield Books' pop-up shop with a range of botanical books and hand-lenses.
We encourage botanical recorders and researchers to submit a poster or other exhibit about your work - the British & Irish Botanical Conference is BSBI’s main annual event, so it’s the perfect place for you to showcase what you do during the rest of the year!
You can book here as an attendee and/ or an exhibitor; we look forward to seeing you on 2nd December.
Louise Marsh, BSBI Communications Officer
Book for the BSBI 2023 AGM
Bookings are now open for this year’s BSBI AGM. It will take place online on Thursday, 16th November. The AGM will start at 7.15pm and be preceded by talks (details to be announced) starting at 6.15pm. If you are a BSBI member, the AGM is your chance to have your say and participate in how the Society is governed. Please visit the AGM page to find out more and to register to attend.
Louise Marsh, BSBI Communications Officer
Field meeting reports and looking ahead to 2024
The 2023 field season is coming to an end, though there is still plenty that can be recorded. A recent visit to a local county wildlife site revealed Euphrasia nemorosa (Eyebright) and Geranium columbinum (Long-stalked Crane's-bill), which hadn’t been seen there since 1997. If you have hosted a BSBI field meeting listed in the Yearbook, please make sure that you (or the designated reporter) send in a report, either through your country field meeting secretary or direct to me. If you have images, send them separately to ensure that resolution is retained. Then it is time to think about meetings for 2024. A suggestion is that weekend meetings are more popular when there are different interesting sites to see on the Saturday and Sunday, so that participants can travel to make a weekend of it. The deadline for the Yearbook is the end of November.
The guidance to leaders, organisers and participants will as usual be reviewed over the winter and any updates agreed by the Events & Communications Committee. If you have any suggestions as a result of this year’s meetings do let me have feedback.
Jonathan Shanklin, BSBI Field Meetings Secretary
Scottish Botanists’ Conference 2023 - registration is live!
This year's Scottish Botanists' Conference will take place on Saturday 4th November at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) and registration is now live!
The event programme can be seen here and there will also be a range of identification workshops on offer covering willowherbs, montane willows, horsetails, and bryophytes for beginners.
Matt Harding, BSBI Scotland Officer
Irish Autumn Meeting and AGM 2023 - registration is live!
The Irish Autumn Meeting and AGM will be held on Saturday 21 October in the beautiful, autumnal setting of the National Botanic Gardens in Glasnevin, Dublin. There is an exciting lineup of speakers, on topics ranging from Irish bryophytes to the life and work of eminent Irish botanist Evelyn Booth; a variety of plant-related workshops; and guided tours of the Herbarium and Gardens. It's also a great chance to meet up with other botanists from across the country and enjoy the Gardens in all their autumn glory!
This event is free to attend, but spaces are limited, so please book your place here.
Bridget Keehan, BSBI Ireland Officer
MapMate Query
I do most of my data analysis using the BSBI Database. But there is one MapMate user query I find really useful at the data entry stage: “Browse all Records for a <1km square>”. It is helpful when checking that you have digitised all your records, no matter what grid reference resolutions you’ve given them. If you don’t already have this query, you can get it on the Custom queries page of the BSBI MapMate Support website. Simple installation instructions are given on the page.
Incidentally, if you already have this custom query but it doesn’t return any 12 figure grid references, it is an old faulty version. If you copy the query SQL from the Custom queries page and paste it, overwriting your existing query SQL, and then save it, then it should work properly.
Jim McIntosh, BSBI County Recorder, Mid-Perthshire
Botany courses from the Biological Recording Company
Mark Spencer, BSBI County Recorder for Middlesex, is running three training days in London in November that may be of interest to beginners or developing botanists in your networks. There is Beginners Fern Field ID on the 1st November, Botany 101: Using Botany Keys and Guides on the 18th November, and Winter Plant Identification on the 2th November. They are all priced at £50. Spaces are still available so please spread the word!
James Harding-Morris, BSBI Countries Support Manager
BSBI Awards
If someone has impressed you with their work for BSBI why not nominate them for a BSBI award? Check the guidelines at Nominations & Awards – Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland. We want to recognise activity in all parts of Britain and Ireland. The deadline is 31st December.
Christopher Miles, Chair of the BSBI Board of Trustees
New Year Plant Hunt: register for free resources!
Since we launched the new ‘register your interest’ form for this year’s New Year Plant Hunt, 164 people have already done just that! We’re working to create some helpful resources so that even absolute beginners can contribute to this citizen science project, now in its thirteenth year. The Hunt will run from Saturday 30th December 2023 to Tuesday 2nd January 2024 and if you are planning a group hunt in your area - and we hope you are! - then please contact us at nyplanthunt@bsbi.org so we can advertise it on the website and help you with promotion.
Louise Marsh, BSBI Communications Officer
Upcoming UK NPMS events
If you haven’t set up your NPMS square yet, or if you have recorders in your county that are looking to get started, then there is an introduction to NPMS and the survey methodology in early November that you can book onto now.
There is also, on 7th December, a webinar on Vegetation of disturbed and urban places which may be of interest to you and your recording network.
James Harding-Morris, BSBI Countries Support Manager