UK Plant Sciences Federation
Plant Health Studentships: opportunities for undergrads and providers
Dr Celia Knight FRSB, plant science education and employability consultant, shares her thoughts on undergraduate opportunities. What does a summer studentship mean to an undergraduate? When considering whether to undertake a summer research studentship, placement, internship or work experience, undergraduates might wonder: Does applying for a research studentship mean you have to know you want … Continue reading
Helping urban agriculture take root
Sam Lane AMRSB looks at some of the technologies and policies that will help cities grow their own food. What if I told you there was a way to meet growing demands for food security, reduce causes of climate change, shrink supply chains and improve public health? Well, some think that urban agriculture might just … Continue reading
Can we give new biotech the green light?
By Gabriele Butkute, science policy assistant at the Royal Society of Biology and the Biochemical Society The human population is expected to reach nine billion by 2050. There are pressing questions about how to ensure a healthy diet for everyone while preventing overuse of natural resources or poisoning of the land, sea and air. Biotechnology … Continue reading
Actions for plant science in the UK
By Dr Sandy Knapp FRSB, head of the Plants Division of the Natural History Museum, London Plant science has a broad reach – from molecules to ecosystems, and from blue skies to near-market research and practical applications. The UKPSF was formed to bring the plant science sector together and to harness the power of our … Continue reading
Building public support for UK agri-science
Anna Tiley, policy and communications intern at the Society of Biology, summarises highlights from the most recent meeting of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Science and Technology in Agriculture. This post can also be found on the UK PlantSci blog. On Tuesday 13th May the UKPSF Executive Officer, Dr Mimi Tanimoto, and I attended a … Continue reading
Preventing plant disease
Michelle Hulin won the Best Biology Student category of the SET Awards 2013 for her final year project “Preventing Global Disease Spread of a Major Commodity Crop” whilst studying at the University of Bath. Here she blogs about her project and her experience of winning the Award which was judged by the Society of Biology. … Continue reading
Inspiring future generations (and feeding them)
by Rebecca Nesbit, Society of Biology People will fight passionately for medical advances, and indeed science has done a huge amout to save lives and reduce suffering caused by health problems. But the point was made at UK PlantSci 2013 that, ultimately, this is only valuable if we can feed people. I don’t think there … Continue reading
No single answer – messages from PlantSci
by Rebecca Nesbit, Society of Biology This week I’m lucky enough to be at UK PlantSci 2013 in Dundee – the 2nd conference of the UK Plant Sciences Federation. The conference opened this morning with a keynote talk from Professor Charles Godfray, who spoke very convincingly about the need for food production to become radically … Continue reading
Your plant science questions answered
So many issues in plant science (and indeed in science in general) don’t have the simple answers we expected. Organic farming can cause environmental damage, GM crops have potential to increase food security, and some biofuels can increase rather than decrease carbon emissions. I can be hard to keep up with these debates, and reliable … Continue reading
Fascination of Plants Day: 18th May 2012
Two years ago at their Annual Meeting, the European Plant Science Organisation (EPSO), muted the idea of supporting a pan European day to celebrate plants. Tomorrow, Friday 18th May, over 560 organisations in 39 countries will take part in the first ever international Fascination of Plants Day, with over 80 of those organisations in the … Continue reading