Samuel Brockington

Fantastic heartfelt thread…

Multiple transitions to high l‐DOPA 4,5‐dioxygenase activity reveal molecular pathways to convergent betalain pigmentation in Caryophyllales Many specialized metabolic pathways have evolved convergently in plants, but distinguishing multiple origins from alternative evolutionary scenarios can be difficult. Here, we explore the evolution .....

Excited to share a new paper with Sandra Guerrero-Rubio and @docbroc.bsky.social on the convergent evolution of betalains, now published in @newphyt.bsky.social! nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/.... A 🧵

All three days were epic!

That was a good day for Natural History Humanities initiatives!
Thank you @theul.bsky.social @theulspeccoll.bsky.social @jillwhitelock.bsky.social for hosting a great workshop!
#GLAM

Productive and inspiring day with BGCI colleagues at @rbgkew.bsky.social talking about living collections management and data ecosystems. A highlight was first ever visit to the newly restored Marianne North gallery. Absolutely fabulous. Must see.

People gathered around three tables having discussions.

Great Collections Lab yesterday: how communities shape participatory research! Questions were on issues that matter most to academic and non-academic researchers & what changes are needed in this space. Grateful to be able to convene these conversations! #research #participatory #community #seminar

Participatory Research project awarded a grant from the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund - Collections Connections Communities We are very pleased to share the news that the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology at the University of Cambridge was granted £92,000 from the Esmée Fairbairn Collections Fund for the project: “Fro...

💫 Thrilled that our seed funding on Participatory Research partly allowed for MAA at @camunivmuseums.bsky.social won £90K for: “From the Caribbean to Cambridge: Reimagining Pre-Columbian Archaeology Collections Together”

Apply now for the new round!

www.ccc.cam.ac.uk/news-events/...

Peat Inspectors Open Letter to Retailers | The Wildlife Trusts Hidden Peat- an open Letter to Retailers

The @the-wildlifetrusts.bsky.social are calling on retailers to label all peat containing products to help consumers avoid buying it. You can sign their open letter here to support them www.wildlifetrusts.org/peat-inspect... I’ve signed!

Opportunities - Collections Connections Communities

Applications open for the new round of Participatory Research fund! NEW & IMPROVED!
Check the Further Particulars and Apply via our website.
Email us for any questions, and spread the word!
www.ccc.cam.ac.uk/opportunities/
@jillwhitelock.bsky.social @docbroc.bsky.social @nealspencer.bsky.social

📅 If you are in Cambridge on the 26 February, 5-7pm, join us for our termly Keynote on the exciting topic of 'Tapping Natural History Collections for Interdisciplinary Research' by Yota Batsaki @dumbartonoaks.bsky.social
Plants, animals and rocks can tell us more than what we might think!🪷🦎🪨📖👇

TODAY! Come to our interactive workshop and learn from members of our community who took part in the participatory research projects we funded last year via @ukri.org ! Still time to register 👇

If you are looking for beauty, fun, books, plants, insects and more across Cambridge and collections, please follow our wonderful Co-Chair @jillwhitelock.bsky.social 🌱🪷📖🦎

This month’s cover image is of a diverse display of tropical plant species under ex situ cultivation in the glasshouses at Cambridge University Botanic Garden, Cambridge, UK.

Great to see our paper on the front cover @natureecoevo.bsky.social, with the tropical displays in our glasshouse range!

With thanks to all 50+ co-authors.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Nice editorial on the issues facing a variety of ex situ plant collection.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

"So, why isn’t conservation horticulture a priority? I suspect it is because the trade off with ornamental horticulture is too high. ... Sadly, it also reveals our disingenuousness – after all, we have a lot to say about the loss of biodiversity."

Fascinating read, and an important call to action.

A rude awakening | Botanic Gardens Conservation International Dr. Paul Smith's latest blog "Rather than see this paper as a threat to the reputation of botanic gardens, we need to see it as an opportunity."

Our colleague Dr Paul Smith, Secretary-General for Botanic Gardens Conservation International has written an important reaction (“A rude awakening”) to the paper here:

www.bgci.org/news-events/...

The World's Living Plant Collections have reached Peak Capacity, Peak Diversity, Peak Wild & Peak Global. So where do we go next? We have just published an article: Cano et al. (2025) Insights from a century of data reveal global trends in ex situ living plant collections Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1-11.

I have posted a digest of the paper and what I think it may mean for the botanic garden community here:

www.linkedin.com/pulse/worlds...

‘The risk of extinction is accelerating’: world’s botanic gardens raise alarm with space to protect endangered plants running out University of Cambridge research suggests living collections have collectively reached peak capacity

We’re delighted that our latest paper on the world’s living plant collections has now been published.

You can find it here: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

@roinnanluisigh.bsky.social
@natureecoevo.bsky.social

Grateful for the exclusive by @donnalferguson.bsky.social, here: shorturl.at/GnYIQ

Powerful and eloquent articulation by @carolinelucas.bsky.social on need for a GCSE in Natural History, Radio 4 Today Programme.

Collections Lab: How communities shape participatory research - Collections Connections Communities At Cambridge, so many people use collections for their research and often discussions around its challenges and learning curves remain within such collections. Collections Labs are informal seminars o...

🥳 Collections Lab is back! How communities shape participatory research.Keeping 🤞 for more funding available soon for more participatory research projects!
Register via our website👇 @docbroc.bsky.social @jillwhitelock.bsky.social @nealspencer.bsky.social

www.ccc.cam.ac.uk/news-events/...

Thais Vasconcelos @tvasconcelos.bsky.social will be the new Director of the Univ. of Michigan Herbarium starting in January -- and the first woman to fill this role in our herbarium's >100 year history. Congrats Thais!

Professor Gibby collecting Pelargonium multibracteatum from the Sumara Pass in Yemen, 4 February 2007. Photograph by Leigh Morris.

An obituary celebrating the life and research of Professor Mary Gibby, Ph.D., OBE, FLS, FRSE, PPBPS (1949-2024) by Professor Stephen Blackmore #RoyalBotanicGarden #Edinburgh and Professor Johannes Vogel #MuseumFürNaturkunde #Berlin published today #OpenAccess in #EJBotany: rbge.cc/4gsoNbc

In one year, I genetically engineered the boring Arabidopsis into a beautiful ornamental flower 🧬🌹

Here is how and why I gave this model organism a visual upgrade 🧵(1/7)

Community collaborations: creativity as reciprocal practice at Kettle’s Yard - Collections Connections Communities Community collaborations: creativity as reciprocal practice at Kettle’s Yard Inga Fraser Kettle’s Yard was the home of the collector and curator H.S. ‘Jim’ Ede and his wife Helen Ede between 1957 and ...

Community Collaborations: nature and art at @kettlesyard.bsky.social as part of our funded participatory research projects. Read the blog here 👇 @jillwhitelock.bsky.social @docbroc.bsky.social

www.ccc.cam.ac.uk/blog/communi...

Department of Plant Sciences Work With Us

Job opportunities!

We are currently recruiting for the following roles:

* Collections & Digitisation Assistant
* Herbarium Collections Manager
* Research Assistant / Research Associate
* Research Laboratory Technician

Find out more & apply:

tinyurl.com/3smk68t5

#PlantsAtCambridge

🚨Read our latest blog on participatory research projects!
Bringing the #ancestors home: how Cambridge collections can support #repatriation using #osteobiographies
Funded via CCC thanks to co-chairs: @jillwhitelock.bsky.social @docbroc.bsky.social & #nealspencer

www.ccc.cam.ac.uk/blog/bringin...

Sorry and thanks, have had weird issues in getting these links to paste and work, fourth time of posting, deleted the others.

Fresh links below:

www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/49378/

www.jobs.cam.ac.uk/job/49404/

African Collections Futures - Collections Connections Communities

To celebrate our arrival on @bsky.app here's our most recent report: African Collections Futures: the first initial mapping of African objects, histories, legacies within Cambridge collections! Check it out 👇:
www.ccc.cam.ac.uk/initiatives/...
@docbroc.bsky.social @jillwhitelock.bsky.social

We are now on BlueSky! Here's a cute little angel from our Gutenberg Bible (Inc.1.A.1.1[3761]). Follow us for all the best special collections content!

It was fantastic to be at the launch of the University of Cambridge ‘African Collections Futures’ report tonight. Incredible, rich, important work by Dr Eva Namusoke through the Collections-Connections-Communities research initiative. Summary report here: www.ccc.cam.ac.uk/wp-content/u...