Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Samuel Brockington @docbroc.bsky.social · May 7

Fantastic heartfelt thread…

Stacey D. Smith @iochromaland.bsky.social · May 5

On Friday, my son stayed home from school because he had a sore throat and wasn’t feeling well. He went with my husband to his office for the morning while I handled our daughter. When he came back at lunch, he was not interested in eating, saying his throat hurt too much. 1/n

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Nat Walker-Hale @phylonatworks.bsky.social · May 6

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 🧵

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 .....

nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Dr Jill Whitelock @jillwhitelock.bsky.social · Mar 18

All three days were epic!

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Cambridge Collections Connections Communities @camglamresearch.bsky.social · Mar 18

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

Cambridge University Library @theul.bsky.social · Mar 18

Bringing botanical illustrations and pressed plants to your feed 🌿
We recently hosted colleagues working across Cambridge collections with Collections-Connections-Communities to celebrate the launch of their Natural History Humanities research programme: loom.ly/C8reZbo @camglamresearch.bsky.social

An antique coloured book illustration of a cactus

Photograph of a pressed Marsh Mallow flower in Darwin Family Hortus Siccus, MS Add. 8090.

A selection of antique coloured book illustration, including a tulip and Emperor moths

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Samuel Brockington @docbroc.bsky.social · Feb 18

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.

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Cambridge Collections Connections Communities @camglamresearch.bsky.social · Feb 11

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

People gathered around three tables having discussions.

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Cambridge Collections Connections Communities @camglamresearch.bsky.social · Feb 11

💫 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/...

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...

www.ccc.cam.ac.uk

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Jack Wallington @jackwallington.com · Jan 21

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!

Peat Inspectors Open Letter to Retailers | The Wildlife Trusts

Hidden Peat- an open Letter to Retailers

www.wildlifetrusts.org

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Cambridge Collections Connections Communities @camglamresearch.bsky.social · Jan 31

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

Opportunities - Collections Connections Communities

www.ccc.cam.ac.uk

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Cambridge Collections Connections Communities @camglamresearch.bsky.social · Feb 4

📅 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!🪷🦎🪨📖👇

Cambridge Collections Connections Communities @camglamresearch.bsky.social · Jan 21

Join us for our termly Keynote Lecture!
Launching our Natural History Humanities with a lecture from Yota Batsaki @dumbartonoaks.bsky.social:
Tapping Natural History Collections for Interdisciplinary Research: Perspectives from the Plant Humanities
Register below 👇
www.ccc.cam.ac.uk/news-events/...

Keynote Lecture_Tapping Natural History Collections for Interdisciplinary Research: Perspectives from the Plant Humanities - Collections Connections Communities

Join us for the Lent CCC Keynote Lecture, which will mark the launch of the Natural History Humanities Initiatives Tapping Natural History Collections for Interdisciplinary Research: Perspectives from...

www.ccc.cam.ac.uk

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Cambridge Collections Connections Communities @camglamresearch.bsky.social · Feb 10

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 👇

Cambridge Collections Connections Communities @camglamresearch.bsky.social · Jan 21

Do your work with collections and interested in how communities shape collections-led research?

Register to our Collections Lab Seminar! Details below 👇

Cambridge Collections Connections Communities @camglamresearch.bsky.social · Jan 14

🥳 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/...

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Cambridge Collections Connections Communities @camglamresearch.bsky.social · Feb 7

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 🌱🪷📖🦎

Dr Jill Whitelock @jillwhitelock.bsky.social · Feb 6

Bound (1996, The Wachowskis).
#AlphabetChallenge #WeekFforFilms 📷 #photography @theul.bsky.social @theulspeccoll.bsky.social

Close-up photograph of the binding of a rare book, a copy of Pliny’s ‘Natural History’, bound with cotton tape.

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Samuel Brockington @docbroc.bsky.social · Feb 10

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...

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.

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Francesco De Batté @francescodb.bsky.social · Feb 5

"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.

Samuel Brockington @docbroc.bsky.social · Jan 27

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/...

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."

www.bgci.org

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Samuel Brockington @docbroc.bsky.social · Jan 27

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/...

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."

www.bgci.org

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Samuel Brockington @docbroc.bsky.social · Jan 27

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 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.

www.linkedin.com

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Samuel Brockington @docbroc.bsky.social · Jan 27

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

‘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

www.theguardian.com

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Samuel Brockington @docbroc.bsky.social · Jan 25

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

Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Cambridge Collections Connections Communities @camglamresearch.bsky.social · Jan 14

🥳 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/...

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...

www.ccc.cam.ac.uk

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Christopher Dick @chrisdick.bsky.social · Dec 21

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!

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Edinburgh Journal of Botany @ejbotany.bsky.social · Dec 20

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

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

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Nick Desnoyer @nickdesnoyer.bsky.social · Dec 12

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)

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Cambridge Collections Connections Communities @camglamresearch.bsky.social · Dec 10

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...

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 ...

www.ccc.cam.ac.uk

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Reposted by Samuel Brockington

Department of Plant Sciences Cambridge @camplantsci.bsky.social · Dec 9

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

Department of Plant Sciences Work With Us

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