The Newsletter of Botanical University Challenge
Issue 9 – November 2024
The ninth issue includes:
- Dates for BUC 2025
- Finals of BUC 2024 – the winners and runners-up
- Student perspectives from the Second Student Botany Festival
- Results of the BUC art and photography competition
- LinkedIn group for Botanical University Challenge
- iNaturalist project for Botanical University Challenge
- BUC Alumnus interview – Finn Harrigan
- Adventures with the flora of Iceland
- Adventures in dendrochronology
- The Thymes Interview: Sophie Cowling
- Friend or Foe? The elder tree in folklore
- Exploring the secret life of lichens
- BUC 2025 Calendar offer
- Botanical book reviews
- Podcast spotlight: discovering the wonders of trees
- Botanical brain teasers
- MSc Biological Recording relaunched by Harper Adams University & Field Studies Council
- Joke thyme!
- Contributors, thanks and sponsors of BUC 2024
Issue 8 – July 2024
The eighth issue includes:
- Reminder about what is BUC
- Who are the semifinalist teams?
- Reports from teams
- BUC sponsors and supporters
- Careers with Plants
- Second Student Botany Festival August 2024
- The Thymes Interview: Dr Lauren Baker
- BUC Alumnus: Sam Thomas
- Rooting through books
- Roots of Passion – Journey into Botany
- Floating Ecosystems – value in Urban Freshwater
- My Favourite Plant: Sempervivum
- BUC Taster Questions
- Planting a Smile – Puns in BUC
- Joke Thyme!
- Thanks and The Thymes team
Extra Information for Issue 8
The full interview with Dr Lauren Baker
Issue 7 – April 2024
The seventh issue includes:
- BUC2024 – Record Turnout!
- BUC2024 – Results so far: a Wild Thyme!
- GQT at University of Reading
- Read all about BUC2024 team experiences
- The Thymes interview: Dr Marjorie Lundgren
- Blogging to beat plant blindness
- BUC alumni: Jordan Bilsborrow
- Meet the BUC2024 semifinal and final chairs
- BUC2024 prizes
- Limerick and team name competitions
- BUC taster questions
- BUC art and photography competition 2024
- Coming soon BUC2025 calendar
- BUC2024 roll call – all the teams!
- Joke Thyme
- Our sponsors, thanks and The Thymes team
Extra information for Issue 7
The full interview with Dr Marjorie Lundgren
Issue 6 – January 2024
The sixth issue includes:
- Are you ready for BUC 2024
- Meet the Chairs!
- What’s in a name?
- Advent Botany branches out!
- The Thymes Interview: Lindsay Turnbull, University of Oxford
- BUC taster questions
- BUC Alumni: Joshua Styles
- BUC at British and Irish Botanical Conference 2023
- Careers & Courses: PhD to Post-doc
- Joke thyme
- Our sponsors, thanks and the Thymes Team
Extra information for Issue 6
The full interview with Professor Lindsay Turnbull
Issue 5 – November 2023
The fifth issue includes:
- What is Botanical University Challenge?
- Call for teams for BUC2024
- More memories of the first Student Botany Festival 2023
- Audience experience of BUC2023
- BUC taster questions
- BUC on social media
- Crab apple by Yi Zhao
- Interview with a Botanist: Professor John Warren, author of Frustrating Flowers and Puzzling Plants.
- Careers with plants: Do you have a head for heights and do you like climbing?
- Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland Annual Meeting 2023
- Update on BUC2024 and the second Student Botany Festival
- Joke thyme
- Our sponsors, thanks and the Thymes team
Extra information for Issue 5
The full interview with Professor John Warren
Issue 4 – August 2023
The fourth issue includes:
- Overview of BUC2023 and the first Student Botany Festival
- Students accounts of Student Botany Festival
- Thoughts from the finalists of BUC2023
- Interview with a Botanist: Dr Susie Lydon, University of Nottingham and local organiser of the Student Botany Festival
- Get Creative art competition winners
- Careers with plants: a student placement with a consultancy and advice from the careers workshop at Student Botany Festival
- BUC taster questions
- Joke thyme
- Our BUC2023 sponsors, thanks and the Thymes team
Extra information for Issue 4:
Issue 3 – April 2023
The third issue includes:
- What happened in Rounds 1 and 2 in February
- Meet the Chairs for the BUC2023 Semifinal and Final
- Prizes and Best Team Names
- A Botanically Significant BUC trophy that honours a remarkable plant scientist, the late Professor Howard ‘Sid’ Thomas
- BUC2023 team stories – Aberystwyth, Bristol, Trinity College Dublin and Southampton
- Get Creative with Plants competition
- City Nature Challenge 2023
- BUC alumni interview – Calum Mclennan, University of Lancaster
- Plant Swap
- Red List Botanists
- BUC taster questions
- Our BUC2023 sponsors and the Thymes team
- A botanical joke!
Extra Information for Issue 3:
Issue 2 – January 2023
The second issue includes:
- Reminder about Botanical University Challenge 2023 dates
- Student Botany Festival July 2023
- Meet the BUC2023 chairs
- Tales from a BUC team – University of Galway, Ireland
- More BUC taster questions
- A life in plants – with Dr Sandy Knapp FLS FRS OBE
- Behind the graphics – illustrations in The Thymes – Yi Zhao, University of Cambridge
- More about the Student Botany Festival 2023 at University of Nottingham
- BUC alumni interview – Rory Queripel, The Eden Project
- Finding the Killarney filmy fern – Calum McClennan, University of Lancaster
- Botanical careers and courses
- Our BUC2023 sponsors
- About The Thymes team
- A botanical joke!
- Form for feedback about The Thymes
Extra information for Issue 2:
Teams briefing session about BUC2023, held 11 January
Issue 1 – October 2022
The first issue includes:
- Introducing Botanical University Challenge 2023
- BUC tales from a winning team
- BUC taster question (answer at the end of issue 1!)
- A life in plants – into the wilderness with Chris Thorogood
- Get Creative with Plants competition
- BUC alumni interview – vascular plant specialist Alex Mills
- Inspiring courses and careers in botany
- About The Thyme team
- Form for feedback about The Thymes
Extra information for Issue 1:
Recordings of the interview ‘A life in plants – into the wilderness with Chris Thorogood’ :