*** BOOKINGS WILL CLOSE AT 0900 ON THE DAY OF THE CONFERENCE***

***VISIT THE SPECIAL SCOTTISH BOTANISTS' CONFERENCE WEBSITE***

Everyone with an interest in Scottish botany, whether member or not, is very welcome to the Scottish Botanists’ Conference 2020. This year’s event will be different as it will be entirely virtual. We will have an inspiring programme of talks, workshops and exhibits spread over the weekend of Saturday 31st October and Sunday 1st November - all online and recorded so you can view them later (or again). All you need is a broadband connection and you’re there – no travelling involved!  

We are delighted to announce that our special guest speaker is Peter Hollingsworth, Director of Science, RBGE who will give a talk to mark 350 years of International & Scottish botanical endeavour by RBGE.

DRAFT PROGRAMME 

Saturday 31^nd October, morning session chaired by Lindsay Mackinlay, BSBI

10.00 Welcome – Jim McIntosh, BSBI Scottish Officer

10.10 350 Years of International & Scottish botany by RBGE – Peter Hollingsworth, Director of Science, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh

11.10 Break for Tea & Coffee

11.40 How rare plant populations and habitats have responded to management over the past 20 years – Stuart Adair, Borders Forest Trust

12.00 Expedition to St Kilda – Dan Watson, National Trust for Scotland

12.20 How plants cope with stress caused by environmental factors - Jade Bleau, University of Edinburgh

12.40 Fluctuations in annual numbers of flowering Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera) in South Ayrshire - Chris McInerny, University of Glasgow

13.00 Break for Lunch

Optional one-hour online workshops / webinars (see below): 

14.00  Introduction to the BSBI Database – Chris Metherell, BSBI 

15.00  Introduction to Conifer ID – Matt Paratt, Forest Research


Sunday 1^st November, morning session chaired by Julia Wilson, BSS President

10.00 Welcome – Lynne Farrell, Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland President

10.10 The BSS Report – Julia Wilson, BSS President

10.20 The floriferous urban flora of 2020 – John Grace, BSS

10.40 The BSBI Scottish Year – Jim McIntosh, BSBI Scottish Officer

11.00 Break for Tea & Coffee

11.20 Biosecurity, biodiversity and pandemic - links between plant disease, climate change, and biodiversity loss – Katy Hayden, RBGE

11.40 Series short interviews with exhibitors

11.55 Results of the BSBI Photographic Competition

12.00 Q&A Session

12.30 BSBI Scottish AGM - Lindsay Mackinlay, Chair BSBI Committee for Scotland

13.00 Break for Lunch

Optional one-hour online workshops / webinars (see below):

14.00 Starting out with Lichen identification – Rebecca Yahr, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh & British Bryological Society

15.00 Introduction to Winter Tree Id -Mark Duffell, Arvensis Ecology & BSBI (Pre-recorded version only)

Charges

Registration is essential but there is no fee. However we would be delighted if you would make a donation to help with our organisation and administrative costs. 

Exhibitors

We plan to mount a virtual exhibition but, as usual, rely on exhibitors to generate botanical interest and we would encourage all participating botanists to put their interesting botanical findings on display.  Please email me, Jim McIntosh, your exhibits, posters and short summaries of your exhibit or poster in no more than 100 words.

Workshops

We have a selection of workshops /webinars for you to choose from. Each workshop is a maximum of one hour including questions. No need to book. Participate in as many or few as you like. We hope to have recordings of Saturday's workshops available to view on Sunday to increase choice and convenience.

Photographic Competition

The Photographic Competition will take place as usual. Winners will be selected by a poll of those participating in the Conference (details to follow). The 2020 Photographic Competition closed to new entries on 23rd October. Thank you to everyone who participated - and good luck! For full details of the BSBI Photographic Competition.... but to recap briefly; the 2020 competition has two categories: simply 1) Native and 2) Alien. Photographs should be taken in Britain or Ireland, but don't have to be taken during 2020 and you don't have to enter both categories. However, there is a limit of two images per category per entrant. The prizes are book tokens provided by Summerfield Books.

Summerfield Books

Summerfield Books' pop-up bookshop is a regular feature at the Scottish Botanists' Conference. Sadly this year they can't be with us in person, but we will have a short video from them, telling us about their most exciting recently-published books. They have also kindly agreed that anyone ordering books and/ or equipment to the value of more than £50, over the Scottish Botanists' Conference weekend will benefit from FREE shipping, i.e. you won’t have to pay postage & packaging. 

Personal details

When you register you will be asked for your name, hometown and organisation / position.  This information will be appear on the list of participants, which will be distributed to fellow participants beforehand, unless you indicate otherwise when registering. Your email address will not be shared with third parties (other than Ticket Tailor, the operators of this booking page) and will only be used to keep you posted about this event, seek feedback about it and to let you know about next year's Scottish Botanists' Conference.

Scottish Botanists' Conference

The Scottish Botanists' Conference is a collaboration of the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland, the Botanical Society of Scotland and the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.