The next generation of botanists. 

Having lost some eminent botanists like Peter Sell and Richard Pankhurst this year, BSBI members may be heartened to see the efforts of some of our younger members who - if we all support and encourage them - may go on to make great contributions to botany in Britain and Ireland. 

Meeting Waheed and Lara at Birdfair 2012
Image: J. Bailey

BSBI member Waheed Arshad impressed us with his enthusiasm for all things botanical when we met him on the Birdfair stand last summer, so it was great to hear from him again recently. Waheed is now studying towards a MSc in Plant Diversity at the University of Reading, but on Friday afternoons he has also been volunteering in the herbarium at Kew, following on from his internship there over the summer. 

You can read about what Waheed has been doing in the herbarium on his excellent Blog, which I've added to the list on right of Blogs by BSBI members. I see his latest post is called 'The Book of Stace'!

Ewan's Plant ID poster for the SAM
Image: E. Cole

Also nice to see this poster, offered at last weekend's Scottish Annual Meeting by Ewan Cole, a second year undergraduate at University of Edinburgh who also works in the cryptogamic lab at RBGE and is the youngest member to sit on the Council of the Botanical Society of Scotland. 

If you are on Facebook, you can see more of Ewan's images from the SAM here. 

I'd love to hear what all our young botanists are doing, as they start out on their botanical careers, so please do let me know of any good examples that you hear about. And if you are a young botanist - get in touch and send me a photo of what you are doing to support botany in Britain and Ireland, and I'll post it here. Your good efforts will gladden older hearts and remind us all that the young botanists of today may become the Peter Sells and Richard Pankhursts of tomorrow.