Ash or Oak?
2020-04-06
Which tree is out in leaf first near you – the ash or the oak? Don’t let Covid-19 get in the way of some good citizen science.Continue Reading
Ash dieback paper kindles national interest
2019-05-07
Today, the media picked up on the importance of the scientific paper which I revealed yesterday, which calculates the economic cost of ash dieback in Britain to total £15 billion.Continue Reading
Brave botanist who fell off the edge of the world
2019-05-03
It was great to see my book Green Gold featured in The Daily Mail’s book section today, and a celebration of John Jeffrey as an ‘astronaut of the age’.Continue Reading
A trait-based approach for forest ecosystem management
2019-02-01
One of my more recent co-authored research articles has been selected as ‘Editor’s Choice’ in The Applied Ecologist’s Blog . The paper, Maintaining ecosystem properties after loss of ash in Great Britain by Louise Hill et al, focusses on the importance of using plant functional traits to predict potential changes to an ecosystem, following the loss of a key species.Continue Reading
In celebration of the plant hunter
2018-09-08
To celebrate the lives of plant hunters, like John Jeffrey, here I share some of my favourite books on botany, botanical exploration, and the often extraordinary lives of the plant hunter. Think more Indiana Jones than shy retiring pansies, as these men and women travelled the world in search of plants, valuable for their beauty, medicines, timber, smell, and any number of other benefits.Continue Reading
The art and math of tree fractals
2017-11-27
My writing about art and math in nature are always among my most popular posts, and I’ve meant to write about fractals for a while because they fascinate me. This time of year the bare branches of deciduous trees display their full beauty and fascinating growth patterns. Did you knowContinue Reading
National Plant Society of Oregon
2017-07-20
John Jeffrey , the plant hunter whose story is featured in GREEN GOLD, was first overseen by The Association for the promotion of arboriculture and horticulture of Scotland hosted by Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. It was later renamed the Oregon Botanical Society so it seems fitting that the NPSO is so supportive of the book.Continue Reading