If planning to come by train, please note that there is a rail-strike on Saturday 5 November.

Please book before the 1 November if you'd like to carshare (see below).

Everyone, whether BSBI or BSS members or not, or RBGE staff and students, will be very welcome at the Scottish Botanists' Conference.

Draft Programme

08.45  Exhibitors setting up
09.15  General Arrival – tea & coffee
10.00  Welcome - Simon Milne, RBGE Regius Keeper & Julia Hanmer, BSBI Chief Executive
10.10  Rainforests and Peatlands: Travels around Scotland's most threatened habitats - Clifton Bain, Advisor to the IUCN UK Peatland Programme

11.00 Morning Coffee & Tea
11.30 What can you do with a completely sequenced flora? - Alex Twyford, University of Edinburgh
11.50 Vascular Epiphytes in Easter Ross - Brian Ballinger, BSBI & BSS
12.05 BSBI Scottish Annual General meeting - Lindsay Mackinlay, Chair BSBI Committee for Scotland
           Or lunch & view exhibits

12.30 Lunch and view exhibits

13.10 Meet in Lecture Theatre for Mini-workshop instructions

13.15 Mini-workshops: First session
14.15 Mini-workshops: Second session

15.15 Afternoon Tea / Coffee
15.45 Welcome & general update from Botanical Society of Scotland - Jill Thompson, BSS President
15.55 The Scottish Officer year - Jim McIntosh, BSBI Scottish Officer
16.15 Plantlife Scotland update and plans - Alistair Whyte, Head of Plantlife Scotland
16.30 From The Bird's Mouth / Bho Bheul an Eòin - Derek Roberston
16.45 Question & Answer Session - a chance to have your say!

17.10 Comfort break
17.15 Plant Conservation at Mar Lodge National Nature Reserve - Shaila Rao, Conservation Manager, NTS Mar Lodge
17.40 Results of the BSBI Photographic Competition - Natalie Harmsworth, Competition Organiser
17.45 Closing remarks - Lynne Farrell, President of the BSBI
18.00 Short Presentation to mark Jim McIntosh's retirement

18.30 Leaving Drinks to mark Jim McIntosh's retirement in the Caledonian Hall in the gardens (everyone welcome!)

19:15 Conference Dinner in Caledonian Hall 

Charges

A general admission £30 fee will be charged to cover organisation costs, workshops, speakers' expenses and morning and afternoon teas and coffees. Sadly, the RBGE staff canteen will not open for lunch. But you are welcome to bring a packed lunch and there are a few small cafes within a 15 minute walk. 

Conference Dinner

We would be delighted if you can join us for the Scottish Botanists’ Conference Dinner in the Caledonian Hall, RBGE. The two-course dinner, followed by tea and coffee, will cost £40 per person. (This is a slight change from the flyer which stated it would be a three course meal.) 

Mini-workshops

We have a great selection of mini-workshops but note that space is limited and booking essential. The workshops are:

• An introduction to ferns for beginners by Heather McHaffie***FULLY BOOKED***
• An introduction to grasses for beginners by Jay Mackinnon ***FULLY BOOKED***
• Cypresses by Matt Parratt***FIRST SESSION FULLY BOOKED***
• Discussion workshop: Sitka spruce and other invasive conifers: what next? led by Lindsay Mackinlay
• RBGE Herbarium Tour - with David Harris
• RBGE Library Tour - view some of the treasures from our Scottish collections by Lorna Mitchell
• Spike-rushes by Jeremy Roberts***FULLY BOOKED***
• Spikey-rosette aquatics by Nick Stewart***FIRST SESSION FULLY BOOKED***

Remember the mini-workshops, like all the talks, are entirely optional and you may prefer to have an extended lunch break catching up with friends, or view the exhibition and posters, or visit Summerfield Books or get out into the gardens for a breath of fresh air.

Recording

Although this is a face to face event we will experimentally record the talks so they can be made available afterwards - if successful.  The event will not be live streamed. 

Exhibitors

We rely on exhibitors to generate botanical interest and would encourage all participating botanists to put their interesting botanical findings on display. Please give the title of your exhibit or poster and how much space you require when booking. Due to limited space large requests may have to be reduced. Please also email an abstract of your exhibit or poster of no more than 50 words to Liz Lavery by the 28th October.

Photographic Exhibition & Competition ***Competition closed***

All amateur photographers are welcome to enter the BSBI Photographic Competition. Please send your entries to Natalie Harmsworth by Friday 21st October. Full details of the competition are on the competition webpage, but to summarise briefly; the 2022 competition has four categories; flowers in the four seasons: winter, spring, summer & autumn. The entries must be of native or naturalised species growing in the wild in Britain or Ireland (i.e. outside gardens), but don't have to be taken during 2022 and you don't have to enter all four categories. Winners will be selected by a popular vote by all those attending the Scottish Botanists' Conference.

Travel

With global warming and the high cost of fuel we'd really like to encourage participants to travel by public transport or at least car share. To facilitate car sharing, if you book before the 1 November, we will send you a participant list so you can see who else is going and get in contact with any friends who are travelling from your direction. Please be aware that RMT are planning a rail strike on the 5 November.

Personal Information

The information being requested on this form will only be held and used by the BSBI to administer this conference and to let you know about next year's event. On booking we ask you for your name, contact details, organisation, role and home town. Optional information requested will only be held and used by the BSBI to administer this conference. Please see the BSBI Privacy Policy for further details of how your data will be handled and stored. You can request to see the data we hold, request its removal or update your contact preferences at any time by contacting us. To do so, email enquiries@bsbi.org.

Photos

We would like to take occasional photographs showing participants listening to the talks and viewing the exhibits, for publicity purposes. Please let the photographer know if you do not wish to be included in these photographs.

Covid

Please do not attend if feeling unwell, or you have Covid symptoms. Hand sanitiser will be provided, and those attending are very welcome to wear a mask if they wish.

Refunds

Full refunds will be offered to anyone who needs to cancel up to 1 week before the event. If you have to cancel at shorter notice, we may not be able to refund your fee.

Social media

Use #ScotBotanistsConf to follow the event on Twitter.

Photo Credit

Many thanks to Richard Gulliver for his lovely photograph above of Hornbeam (Carpinus betulus) fruits, an entry to the BSBI Photographic Competition in 2015.