Colin Pendry

Aberdeenshire fossil dating back 410 million years joins museum collection Researchers say the fossil found in Aberdeenshire is neither plant nor fungus as previously thought.

Really exciting to get some press coverage on our Prototaxites paper @instmolplantsci.bsky.social @edinburgh-uni.bsky.social
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

YouTube video by Peter Pringle THE OLDEST SONG IN THE WORLD

This is haunting...

It's the oldest piece of music for which we have both the words and the notes. A song to the Hurrian goddess Nikkal, it was written on clay tablets around 3500 years ago, and was discovered in the 1950s in the ruins of the ancient city of Ugarit.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8tf...

Photo of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh from above, with the text "Join our team. Director of Horticulture".

📢 Huge opportunity - we're recruiting for an exceptional leader to become our Director of Horticulture.

This pivotal role will be responsible for the oversight of one of the world’s most significant plant collections.

Could this be you? Find full details and apply by 5 January 2026: rbge.cc/Jobs

🌱 Find our more about our work and support our mission to protect Scotland’s most threatened species: rbge.cc/protecting-p...

Petition: Call a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics & democracy We are concerned about reported efforts from Russia to influence democracy in the US, UK, Europe and elsewhere. We believe we must establish the depth and breadth of possible Russian influence campaig...

Please sign this petition for a public inquiry into Russian influence on UK politics.

I don't care if you're left or right, Reform or Corbynite - we can't allow a hostile foreign nation to run riot in our political ecosystem.

Sign and share.

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/74...

Trinity College Dublin Herbarium

Calling botanical researchers, the School of Natural Science at Trinity College Dublin is hiring a tenure track Assistant Professor in Plant Biodiversity and Conservation.

I know this is someone's dream job, so let me know if that is you and you want to chat!

my.corehr.com/pls/trrecrui...

A species of #Heteropolygonatum #Asparagaceae from #Myanmar and western Yunnan #Gaoligongshan is described as new to science by botanists from @mobotgarden.bsky.social and @thebotanics.bsky.social in #EJBotany #OpenAcess: bit.ly/46IqSMs

Portrait of Dr Julia Knights surrounded by green foliage, and a waterfall in the background, at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.

We're pleased to announce that Dr Julia Knights has been appointed as the 17th Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and will be joining us in January.

Julia will succeed Simon Milne MBE, who will retire after more than a decade of visionary leadership. More: rbge.cc/regius-keeper

📢 We're hiring!

We're looking for a dedicated ICCP Researcher / Red Listing Co-ordinator to take a leading role in our renowned International Conifer Conservation Programme 🌲

Apply by midday on Friday 26 September: rbge.cc/jobs

YouTube video by Trinity College Dublin Ireland's Temperate Rainforest

Five species from Ireland's temperate rainforest in five minutes, presented by me! I am super happy with how this turned out, so do take a look. And a huge thank you to Michelle, Daniel, Peter L, and Jenny for making this happen!
youtu.be/xHRUBeukH6E

In the U.K. too.

Talking up immigration protests when they really are very small.

Talking up Farage when his projects have been a failure and harmed GB Inc.

Regeneration success for Scotland’s iconic Palm Houses - Bylines Scotland Only one mile from Edinburgh’s city centre and deep within the heart of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, a dazzling transformation is taking place

Previously on Bylines Scotland...

Edinburgh Traditional Building Festival 2025 - Edinburgh World Heritage 19 - 21 August 2025

August is approaching, which means the return of the everyone’s favourite festival: the Edinburgh Traditional Building Festival 🛠️

Explore the full free line-up here: ewh.org.uk/edinburgh-tr...

Joined the Anti Trump protests at the US Consulate in Edinburgh.

Regeneration success for Scotland’s iconic Palm Houses - Bylines Scotland Only one mile from Edinburgh’s city centre and deep within the heart of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, a dazzling transformation is taking place

"This year saw the teams move into the final stages of the restoration work...

The Palm Houses will then return to the care of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, which will embark on the final stages of the transformation... ready to welcome back visiting members of the public."

YouTube video by Kyiv Independent How Ukrainian teens are training for war

Some Ukrainian military units, such as the Azov Brigade, offer boot camps for teenagers to teach them the basics of self-defense, first aid, dry firing, and other survival skills — helping them prepare for both the realities of today and the uncertainties of the future.

A New Future for the Biodiversity Heritage Library The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. A global consortium of over 660 contributors, BHL has made more …

If you use the Biodivisity Heritage Library (I use it almost daily), you'll be saddened (and maybe angered😡) to learn that DOGE+Musk+Trump have eliminated its funding. BHL is looking for a new home. #ILoveBHL

So much f***ing winning.🤬

blog.biodiversitylibrary.org/2025/04/new-...

‘New hope’: ash trees rapidly evolving resistance to dieback, study reveals Subtle DNA changes in trees demonstrate Charles Darwin’s natural selection – although human help may be needed

There's hope for ash trees against dieback, but it depends on one thing: *natural regeneration*.

The reasons for prioritising natregen over planting are so many, so powerful, I sometimes feel I'm going out of my mind seeing them *still* being ignored.
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

I'm proud to say that I have contributed to this latest update, having sorted out all the names in Ruprechtia.

???

A photograph of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh with the Edinburgh skyline in the background. A dark green border surrounds the image, with text in off-white at the bottom which reads: 'Lead our team. Regius Keeper (CEO)'.

Could you be the next Regius Keeper (CEO) of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh?

We're seeking an exceptional leader with innovation, strategic thinking, and a passion for plants to shape our future.

Apply for this prestigious and incredibly rare role: rbge.org.uk/regius-keeper

80,000 signatures on our petition to ban driven grouse shooting, we're not far off the magic 100K now 🙌

If you haven't yet signed please do to help us secure a Parliamentary debate on the issue → govpetition.uk/p/700036

It's officially spring! The magnolia and blue skies have certainly got the memo 🌸

📸 Thank you to visitors @g_sun_ and @_malgoska_malgoska_ on Instagram for capturing these beauties.

Good morning, from the back page of Private Eye magazine!

See how a collection is made for a Herbarium specimen - here's behind the scenes with Tropical Botanist Dr Peter Wilkie.

See preserved specimens from our Herbarium for yourself in our new new exhibition, Pressed for Time, opening this Saturday at the John Hope Gateway Gallery 🌿

Help your local herbarium! Volunteers mounting specimens at Univ Leicester Image: L. Marsh Regular readers of this blog will know that we have a passion for herbaria ....

Help your local British herbarium to join in the digitisation journey! My blog post in BSBi News bsbipublicity.blogspot.com/2025/03/help... with a plea to express interest in the DiSSCo UK programme engagementhub.ukri.org/ahrc-infrast...

Endangered plants face a new threat: the limits of botanic gardens Botanic gardens have evolved from medicinal gardens to scientific institutions, Now, they must become conservation leaders on a global scale

Botanic gardens are at full capacity, and biodiversity is still in crisis.

If we don’t rethink conservation, rare species could vanish forever.

Prof Samuel Brockington reports.

Kew’s rescue mission: arborists head to Scotland after hundreds of trees and plants felled by Storm Éowyn

Petition: Ban fossil fuel advertising and sponsorship Advertisements encourage the use of products and sponsorship promotes a positive reputation & creates a social licence of trust & acceptability. In 2003 a ban on all tobacco advertising was introduced...

I’m campaigning for a ban on fossil fuel ads in the UK , for too long these fossil fuel giants have had unlimited spending power to greenwash their filthy reputations for politicians and the public .

Please sign my Gov petition - thank you

petition.parliament.uk/petitions/70...