British and Irish Botanical Conference 2025

Everyone is welcome at the 2025 British & Irish Botanical Conference (the event formerly known as the BSBI Annual Exhibition Meeting). You don't need to be an expert botanist or a member of the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI).

A small registration fee (£7pp) has been applied this year towards the catering package we have arranged, because there are no catering outlets open on campus on a Saturday, and no cafes nearby. So, we are providing each of you with a catering package (2 servings of tea/ coffee/ biscuits and a sandwich lunch) as part of the booking package. The fee will not apply to students or speakers. 

Provisional programme

09:30 Doors open for exhibitors

10:30 Event opens. More details and a map below.

11:20-12:30 Supporting everyone keen to learn more about our wild plants

11.20-11.30 Welcome from Dr Mary Dean (BSBI trustee) 

Chair: Jenn Clayton-Brown (Univ. Edge Hill) 

• 11:30 Resistance is futile? A role for botany in the 21st Century University? – Prof Paul Ashton (BSBI President & Univ. Edge Hill)
• 11:45 Impact of Botanical University Challenge on student botany - Jonathan Mitchley (Univ. Reading) & Lauren Baker (Univ. Oxford)
• 12:00 Presentation of the 2025 Presidents' Award; showcasing Identiplant students and tutors; demonstration of making short botanical videos for TikTok; flash talks from exhibitors.

12:30-13:30 Lunch (sandwiches, tea, coffee, biscuits), tours & exhibits 

• Behind-the-scenes tour 1: Electron Microscopy Suite & Fern Garden
• Summerfield Books pop-up bookshop with author meet & greets
• A chance to view the exhibits 

13:30-14:45 Supporting botanical research and partnership working to help meet BSBI's strategic goals

Chair: Nicola Tainton (BSBI Trustee)

• 13:30: Improving botanical knowledge and standards in professional practice - Chantal Helm (BSBI Training Coordinator)
• 13:45: Biodiversity Net Gain and UK Habitats: The value of botanical training to ecological consultants - Katherine Judson (Univ. Edge Hill) 
• 14:00: Hidden in plain sight: the value of simply observing in botany - Kristel Schoonderwoerd (Univ. Edge Hill)
• 14:15: The new GB Red List for Vascular Plants - Pete Stroh (BSBI Scientific Officer)
• 14:30 Grassland responses to climate change: 31 years of evidence from the Buxton Climate Change Impacts Lab - Raj Whitlock (Univ. Liverpool)

14:45-15:30 Tea break (tea, coffee, biscuits), tours & exhibits 

• Behind-the-scenes tour 2: Electron Microscopy Suite & Fern Garden
• Summerfield Books pop-up bookshop with author meet & greets
• A chance to view the exhibits

15:30-16.15 Panel Discussion: Artificial Intelligence: the good, the bad, and how best to approach it as a botanical community?

Chair: James Drever (BSBI Data Support Officer)

Panellists: Alice Kershaw (Wildlife Trusts); Stuart Desjardins (Univ. Leicester); Trevor Dines (BSBI trustee): Olaf Kranse (Univ. Cambridge)

16:15-16:45 Keynote & closing comments 

Chair: Julia Hanmer (BSBI Chief Executive) 

• 16.15: A botanist's view from South Yorkshire - Prof John Rodwell (Independent Ecologist/ Co-ordinator of the National Vegetation Classification) 
• 16.45: Thanks & closing comments - Julia Hanmer (BSBI Chief Executive)

17:00 Event ends.

After the Conference: we have a separate upstairs room (holding 35 people) reserved at a nearby restaurant, Nordico Lounge in Ormskirk, from 5.30pm onwards for food, drinks and socialising. There will be a tapas-style buffet supper served between 6pm and 7.30pm (cost £13.50pp to be paid by you on the night, drinks to be ordered and paid for separately on the night). This option is available on a first-come, first-served basis, so please select this option when you make your booking and we will confirm by email if you have secured a space. 

Summerfield Books: our natural history booksellers will be having a pop-up shop at the Conference and will be hosting several author 'meet & greets'  throughout the day. Details to follow.

Exhibits: Exhibitor space is available (at no extra cost) to anyone keen to share their research into the British and Irish flora. When you make your booking, please book a second exhibitor ticket and use the dropdown options to tell us your requirements.

Identification Help Table/John Poland’s Vegetative ID Quiz: please bring along any specimens (live or pressed) that you find difficult to identify and challenge some of the best botanists in the country! You will also be able to test your vegetative plant ID skills by taking part in John Poland's legendary ID quiz.

Getting to the Conference: more info here: https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/locations/ and here: https://www.edgehill.ac.uk/sustainability/travelandtransport/.

Tours and workshops: During the lunch break and afternoon tea-break, there will be the option to join a behind-the-scenes guided tour of the Botany Dept.'s Scanning Electron Microscopy Suite and the Fern Garden, and/ or a workshop (subjects TBC). These options will be available on a first come, first served basis. If you would like to receive more information about these options and be added to a waiting list, please register your interest when you book. 

Filming and photographs: We hope to record the talks and upload them later to the BSBI YouTube channel – we would also like to film and/or photograph attendees listening to the talks and viewing the exhibits, so we can use the footage and images for publicity purposes. Please let us know when you make your booking if you are happy/ do not wish to be included in any such footage or photographs. We also encourage you to take photographs at the event and will set up a folder where these can be shared.

The Annual General Meeting (AGM): In previous years, the AGM has been held on the same day as the Conference, usually during the lunch-hour. Nowadays the AGM is a separate event; this year, it is being held online on Thursday 20th November and you will need to book separately. More info here.

BSBI Privacy Policy: We hold the information requested from you in order to administer this event, and to suggest future BSBI events that may be of interest to you. We will treat your information as confidential, hold it securely and will never pass it on to third parties.

Our Privacy Policy is available to view or download here:

bsbi.org/download/10855/

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