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Join Dr Jonathan Mitchley to learn insights from the latest Plants, People, Planet paper, stories from students and festivals, and even get your own chance to join a mini-Botanical University Challenge quiz!
Dr Jonathan Mitchley (“Dr M”) shares the story of Botanical University Challenge (BUC) — now in its ninth-year inspiring plant-aware students across the UK and Ireland.
Founded to reconnect isolated young botanists, BUC has grown into a national, and potentially international, celebration of plant science, field skills, and the human plant community!
In this characteristically lively and visual talk, Dr M reveals how friendly competition, creativity, and humour can ignite a passion for plants, from field botany to plant-powered parodies. Expect insights from the latest Plants, People, Planet paper, stories from students and festivals, and your own chance to join a mini-BUC quiz!
*If you are a member you should have already received your personal email invitation directly from our team (contact us if you haven’t!). New members will receive a link in your welcome email.
Jonathan Mitchley (Dr M) is a passionate botanist devoted to making everyone go wild about plants. Through teaching, fieldwork, his website, and YouTube channel Dr M Goes Wild, he shares his infectious enthusiasm for plants everywhere. Creator of the cult video Extreme Poaceae and co-founder of the inspirational student botany quiz Botanical University Challenge, now intoits 9th year, he even rocks botany through viral hits like Botanical Rhapsody. His message: plants are fascinating, beautiful and vital, and deserve our love.
Rachel has managed conservation and public participation projects at Plantlife for over 14 years. She loves wild plants and fungi and thoroughly enjoys supporting other people to both develop their own appreciation and take action to conserve them.
Join conservationist James Harding-Morris as he uncovers the fascinating stories of Britain’s endemic species which are at risk of vanishing forever.
James Harding-Morris is a nature enthusiast with a lifelong love for exploring the natural world. Whether trekking up mountains in search of rare flowers, scouring fens for elusive moths, or investigating exotic invertebrates in hothouses, James’s fascination with wildlife is unwavering. James played a key role in delivering high-impact campaigns such as the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch and the BSBI’s New Year Plant Hunt and he is on a mission to ensure that everyone in Britain and Ireland has the opportunity to fall in love with plants.
Alan is Plantlife’s new Species Recovery Programme Manager. He has a deep interest in the intimate relationships of plants, lichens, bryophytes and fungi with other species, particularly invertebrates. He joins us from Butterfly Conservation where he was Head of Conservation (Wales and Northern Ireland) and has previously managed nature reserves and designated sites. Alan has a strong background in land management and has been initiating conservation projects targeting threatened species and habitats for 20 years.
From stepping outside into a green space or connecting with local wildlife – the therapeutic qualities of nature can be immensely valuable to patients going through cancer treatment. But how does this work? And how do you bring a green space into a care setting?
Cancer charity Maggie’s will be sharing their inspirational stories of how gardens and nature can play a crucial role in the management of chronic illness.
Join two members of Maggie’s team, Gilly and Louise, to learn about the benefits of connecting with green spaces, the benefits of patients being able to spend time outside and how they turned a hospital car park into a garden at their Southampton centre.
Louise came to gardening following a career creating nature-focused experiences in the museum sector. After gaining a Bachelor’s degree in Biological Sciences and a Master’s in Science Communication, she spent 15 years developing exhibitions and events in national museums. A fascination with botany and a love of gardening lead to RHS horticulture qualifications and a change of career direction. Louise joined Maggie’s Southampton in 2022 and is responsible for maintaining and developing the centre’s garden.
Gilly joined Maggie’s in 2020, following a 30-year career in cancer nursing in London and latterly Southampton. After finishing her PhD in Social Network Theory, Gilly remains passionate about putting her research findings in to practice at Maggie’s, supporting and empowering those impacted by cancer beyond the clinical environment.
Join us to hear about the journey this historic landscape has been on – from exploitation to protection – and how this nature reserve fits into the bigger global picture of nature conservation.
For years, peatlands have been exploited, drained and not valued for their importance to wildlife.
These special habitats which store carbon, are home to important wildlife and can help us fight the climate crisis – are in danger of being destroyed. But in recent years there have been glimmers of hope.
Plantlife’s Munsary Peatlands, part of the vast Flow Country in Scotland, is a place of restoration and protection. The blanket bog here is one of the most extensive peatlands left in Europe and it stores around 1.9 million tonnes of carbon locked up in peat. And last year it made history by becoming the first peatland to be awarded UNESCO World Heritage Status, the same as the Great Barrier Reef.
Alistair is the Head of Plantlife Scotland, leading a team of six Scotland-based staff delivering Plantlife’s work on grasslands, temperate rainforest, and species recovery, as well as managing Plantlife’s only Scottish nature reserve, a 1200-hectare blanket bog site in the Flow Country in Caithness.
Alistair has a background in land management, having spent most of his career managing nature reserves for a range of NGOs and statutory bodies.
Join hundreds of volunteers making a difference for fungi by taking part in Plantlife’s Waxcap Watch survey.
Every year hundreds of volunteers take part in our Waxcap Watch, a citizen science programme that helps us to find waxcaps and other grassland fungi which are indicators of rare, species-rich grassland.
Knowing where waxcaps and other grassland fungi are thriving helps us pinpoint where fragments of ancient meadows survive, so we can protect them for the future.
This online webinar will give you the confidence to get out there and take part in Waxcap Watch. As well as success stories from the past 5 years of surveys, it will cover:
Sign up for this free session if you want to learn more about grassland fungi and are interested in taking part in Waxcap Watch 2025.
Yes, we will put a link to the recording of the session on our website.
You can find everything you need to know about Waxcap Watch on our website https://www.plantlife.org.uk/waxcapwatch/
This webinar is designed to update 2024 volunteers on last year’s survey and help people prepare for the 2026 survey. You aren’t obliged to take part to be able to attend, however we hope you will feel inspired to do so.
If you are curious about Waxcap Watch, please come along to the webinar.
By taking a part in our survey you will help us to:
Much of this app is based on the work by Gareth Griffith, John Bratton and Gary Easton. Original publication: Griffith, G.W., Bratton, J.H. & Easton, G. (2004) Charismatic megafungi; the conservation of waxcap grasslands. British Wildlife. October 2004, pp 31-43.
You are responsible for your own health and safety; Plantlife do not accept any liability or responsibility for the wellbeing of surveyors. Similarly, they do not accept any liability or responsibility for damage to, or loss of, personal property.
We always recommend visiting sites and undertaking surveys with someone else and taking the following precautions:
– Check the forecast and make appropriate arrangements. If the weather changes you may need to rethink your plans.– Take care on uneven or slippery ground and keep to footpaths where necessary.– Take a mobile phone and let someone know where you are going and when you expect to return.– Most fungi are non-toxic; even toxic ones are safe to hold. However, always wash your hands after handling fungi.
England and Wales
Grassland fungi can be found across a variety of different sites, many of which are publicly accessible, such as playing fields, parks or cemeteries. Where there is no open access, keep to public rights of way (footpaths and bridleways). If you plan to carry out a survey on private land, please make sure you obtain the landowner’s permission to access the site.
Scotland
Make sure you follow the Scottish Outdoor Access Code when carrying out this activity.
Where possible, we would highly recommend using the Survey123 app to complete the survey. It is much more convenient to use, especially when filling in the survey outdoors. The Survey123 app allows you to view and/or edit surveys you’ve already submitted, submit surveys while offline, and save answers to avoid re-entering the same information.However, if using the app is not feasible, you can alternatively follow this link and then select ‘Open in browser’ to launch the survey in a web browser on your computer. If you choose this option, we recommend looking over the survey form first to see what information you will need to record when carrying out your survey.
You can still access and fill out the survey without mobile data but you must download the Survey123 app in order to do this.When connected to Wi-Fi or mobile data, download the Survey123 app, as well as the Waxcap Watch survey. You can then begin capturing survey information without a data connection. Upon completingthe survey, you will be given the option to ‘Save in Outbox’, please select this option (see below). In doing so, all your survey results will be stored locally on your device.
When you are able to reconnect to Wi-Fi or mobile data, you will need to submit your survey that has been saved in your Outbox. To do this, navigate to the survey summary page where you will see an ‘Outbox’folder. By clicking on this folder, you will be able to see the survey you filled out and can submit it by clicking ‘Send’ in the bottom right corner of the screen
Take part in Plantlife’s National Meadows Day on Saturday 1 July 2023. This year we celebrate the value of our local species-rich grasslands, including meadows.
Come and learn about rare mountain top plants and fungi in habitat over in altitude 1000m with expert botanists.
Join us live on Instagram, where Project Manager Sam Jones will show you rare plants, and answer questions about the Cairngorms project.
Members Only
We are inviting our members to virtually spend a day with us and find our more about Plantlife’s ongoing conservation work, which has been made possible thanks to your valued support.
Jane leads Plantlife to champion the conservation of wild plants and fungi and deliver nature and climate solutions worldwide. She is a passionate and highly experienced conservation leader with a focus on collaboration and innovation to scale up impact and has worked internationally the last 30 years, connecting local and global solutions. Most notably Jane served as CEO of Wetlands International for 19 years after working for WWF in Europe and Australia. She became the first Executive Director of the Global Commons Alliance, furthering earth system science as a basis for systems change, before joining Plantlife in July 2025. Jane’s ecological research and conservation work began in the UK including working in senior roles for the Suffolk Wildlife Trust and the Broads Authority. Jane has a love of wild places and is a keen amateur botanist. “Plantlife has a tremendous role to play in driving and delivering a nature and people positive future globally. I am honoured to work with this talented and passionate team, trustees, volunteers and partners to make this happen.’ Jane lives in North Norfolk together with her husband Greer where they are active in local conservation groups. Apart from being in nature, Jane enjoys tennis, cycling, painting and pottery.
David is the Founding Director of the MannionDaniels Group with companies in Africa, Asia and Europe. His work has focused on advising governments and donors on health sector policy and planning with a focus on fragile and conflict-affected states. Previously, David worked for the UK Department for International Development (now Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office) and the European Commission covering health, population and nutrition across Latin America, Middle East and North Africa and Asia regions. He has worked with non-governmental organisations such as MSF and HealthNet International and is a founding Member of AmplifyChange and the Menstrual Cup Coalition and is a trustee of the Bath & West Community Energy Fund. Originally trained as a zoologist, he has held a lifelong passion for natural history both at home in the UK and through his travels overseas.
With Rachel’s experience in managing protected sites across Wales and a strong focus on rare plants, the role of project manager for Plantlife’s Glaswelltiroedd Gwydn (Resilient Grasslands) project represents an ideal fit. This talk will explore how Plantlife Cymru is collaborating with and supporting farmers and landowners to promote more sustainable, nature-friendly farming and grassland management in Wales—and why farmers are among the most valuable allies in conservation.
Alistair is the Head of Plantlife Scotland, leading a team of six Scotland-based staff delivering Plantlife’s work on grasslands, temperate rainforest, and species recovery, as well as managing Plantlife’s only Scottish nature reserve, a 1200-hectare blanket bog site in the Flow Country in Caithness. Alistair has a background in land management, having spent most of his career managing nature reserves for a range of NGOs and statutory bodies.
Ben began his career in nature conservation as a volunteer at the age of 16, and went on to do a Masters degree in Conservation at UCL. He has spent over 20 years working in the landscape of the North Kent Downs, with 17 of those spent managing Ranscombe Farm Reserve with its truly unique assemblage of wildflowers. He is passionate about the history and landscape of the Kent countryside.
Rachel is the Head of Global at Plantlife, taking on the role in October of last year. Trained as a Zoologist, her experience in the global conservation sector spans almost two decades and much of her career has focused on delivering positive outcomes for biodiversity conservation through e.g., building capacity and strengthening networks of experts. She counts herself extremely fortunate to have worked with incredibly dedicated people and organisations, in many different countries, on many of the various challenges our natural world faces. Rachel is developing an ambitious global programme for Plantlife, to continue to raise the profile of plants and fungi in international policies and frameworks and scale up action through initiatives such as the Important Plant Area (IPA) programme and the Global Plant Conservation Strategy to deliver real impact on the ground.
Join London-based ecologist and educator Connor Butler for a fascinating evening exploring the real diversity in nature and exposing the biases that shape our understanding of it.
What’s natural or unnatural in nature might feel instinctive. But throughout history, societal biases have shaped our understanding of the natural world and sometimes warped our perceptions of nature. Queer ecology challenges this.
Fluidity is everywhere in nature. From sex-changing plants, to gender-fluid woodlice and even fungi where some species have more than 23,000 sexes!
Connor Butler is one of the leading figures in the queer ecology movement and has worked to develop inclusive programmes with many of the UK’s conservation and cultural organisations.
Join Connor for a fascinating evening exploring the real diversity in nature and exposing the biases that shape our understanding of it, hosted by Plantlife’s own Robbie Blackhall-Miles.
Connor Butler is a London-based ecologist and educator on a mission to make people notice and appreciate the smaller details in nature. He is currently leading a biodiversity audit of Chelsea Physic Garden, and has also been studying London’s dung beetles. His other work focuses on Queer Ecology, challenging traditional ideas about what is considered “natural” or “unnatural”. Over 1,500 people have taken part in his Queer Ecology nature walks so far, delivered with organisations such as The Royal Parks, Chelsea Physic Garden, Garden Museum, and Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. Find Connor on Instagram, @Connor_the_ecologist
Robbie Blackhall-Miles is a plantsman and conservationist and heads up Plantlife’s work for the alpine plants of Eryri National Park through the Natur am Byth programme. His own garden is an accredited botanic garden and houses a collection of early evolutionary plants from all over the world. Robbie also runs a specialist conservation research nursery which is used for restoration and conservation initiatives both locally and internationally. He is an honorary associate professor at Nottingham University and honorary lecturer at Bangor University. Robbie can be found on Instagram at @robbieblackhallmiles
Join TV presenter and gardener Danny Clarke to hear his story of building gardens in urban spaces and using gardening and nature to empower people.
Danny Clarke is a British Garden Designer and TV presenter who shot to fame as BBC’s Instant Gardener, having started his own bespoke garden design company, the Black Gardener, in 1997. Currently, he can also be seen on ITV’s Love Your Garden, alongside Alan Titchmarsh. Danny is passionate about making a difference to climate change and community integration. He is known for his charismatic and fun approach to garden design which is affordable and desirable to people of all ages. ‘Having access to a garden should be a right, not a privilege’ and his biggest wish is that we all make the most of our green spaces for the health of the planet, our communities, and our souls.
Sarah Shuttleworth is Plantlife’s Specialist Botanical Advisor. She is an experienced field botanist with over 17 years of experience. Sarah is passionate about teaching botany, using creative ways to engage and inspire wildflower and fungi enthusiasts. She loves to explore the natural world and is an active member of two local botany groups.
Join ecological home grower and community gardener, Poppy Okotcha, to hear about how she tends to her garden through the seasons and lives more sustainably.
Katie Cameron is based in Wiltshire and is Collaboration Manger for Plantlife, a new role in the communications team to expand how we work and who we work with, and to reach exciting new audiences. Katie studied art and French at university and after working in a UK gallery and then in events for a short time in Hong Kong, joined Plantlife 15 years ago initially working in the membership team before joining the dynamic communications team to work in press and media.
Poppy Okotcha is a Devon based horticulturist and regenerative grower, passionate about helping people reconnect with nature. Through her vibrant Instagram, she shares tips on growing, foraging, and living consciously for the health of individuals, communities, and the planet. After a successful modelling career, she turned to gardening in 2016, training with the Royal Horticultural Society and studying permaculture. Poppy has appeared on Gardeners’ World (BBC2) and the RHS podcast. Her debut book ‘A Wilder Way’ was published this April.
