PlantNetwork training and networking events

Tree safety training day, 2015
Image courtesy of PlantNetwork.

Good to hear from Pam at PlantNetwork about two training and networking events planned for this autumn.

If you haven't yet encountered PlantNetwork, they are the national network of botanic gardens, arboreta and other documented plant collections. 

They aim to promote botanical collections in Britain and Ireland as a national resource for research, conservation and education and they run meetings, conferences and training events throughout the year. 

Plant records training day, Harlow Carr, 2014
Image courtesy of PlantNetwork.

You can find out more on their website here. 

Pam wonders if any BSBI botanists would like to attend the Seed Collection and Storage Training Day at Wakehurst Place on 22nd October which includes a workshop on herbarium specimen collecting. 

Speakers and demonstrators will include staff from Kew, the Millennium Seed Bank, Heritage Seed Library, including staff involved in collecting projects and expeditions.

Or there's this year's PlantNetwork Autumn Conference which will be held in Nottingham on 4th-5th November. The theme this year is Plant Collections management: keeping it legal, ethical and relevant. Follow the links for more info and to book.

Networking opportunity during the coffee-break.
Teaching & research in botanic gardens
Training day held at LUBG, 2015
Image: L. Marsh 

I had the pleasure of meeting Pam earlier this year at a PlantNetwork training/networking day, hosted by University of Leicester Botanic Garden, focused on teaching and research in botanic gardens. I had been invited to offer a presentation at the event on 'plant identification courses and engaging with the local botanical community'. 

This proved a great opportunity to talk about the synergy between the BSBI VC55 local botany group and the plant identification courses for beginners and improvers offered at University of Leicester Botanic Garden. 

And of course to flag up BSBI resources for training botanists and the excellent Field Identification Skills Certificate which BSBI supports and which is fast becoming the "industry standard" for British botanists.