Visit our seminar page for the latest on talks.
2019, 18th Baylis Lecture - Hamish Campbell, Emeritus Scientist, GNS Science
Thursday 1st August, 2019
Geological constraints on the age and antiquity of land in New Caledonia and the Chatham Islands
Hamish Campbell, Emeritus Scientist, GNS Science
This is an illustrated talk exploring the geological evidence for the emergence of land and onset of terrestrial conditions in New Caledonia (northern Zealandia) in the Oligocene, and in the Chatham Islands (eastern Zealandia) in the Pliocene. These age interpretations have significant implications for our understanding of the antiquity and biodiversity of the floras of both New Caledonia and the Chatham Islands.
Hosted by the Botanical Society of Otago in conjunction with the Department of Botany.
PUBLIC LECTURE
Wednesday 18 September, 6–7pm
Castle 1, University of Otago.
Te Ngaru Paewhenua, Māori and Pacific Science Scholarships
Monday 15th October , 2018
Three Botany students have each received a Te Ngaru Paewhenua, Māori and Pacific Science Scholarship, for summer internships. A big congratulations to James, Mia, and Rehaan, on their success.
James Crofts-Bennett
Summer Research Internship—10 weeks. Supervisor: Janice Lord.
Spatial variations in Araneae populations distributed on mistletoes in the Otago area and bioindication of potential pollinators by spider genera presence.
Mia Te Tana
Summer Research Internship—10 weeks. Supervisors: David Orlovich and Tina Summerfield.
Genomic sequencing and analysis of silver beech (tawhai) Nothofagus menziesii.
Rehaan Ali
Summer Research Internship—8 weeks. Supervisor: Tina Summerfield.
Investigating impact of multiple stressors on the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803. This will involve designing and performing growth experiments and making physiological measurements of the cyanobacterium under different conditions. These experiments will provide insight into the mechanisms enabling cyanobacteria to live in diverse environments.
Department Seminar - Dr David Chagné
Monday 3rd September, 2018
The next department seminar will be held by David Chagné, Science Group Leader, Molecular & Digital Breeding, Plant and Food Research, Dunedin, and Department of Biochemistry, University of Otago.
The title of the talk is Genome analysis of mānuka’s uniqueness.
Mānuka is a well-known bush shrub that grows across many ecosystems in New Zealand. To date only one species of mānuka (Leptospermum scoparium) is recognised in New Zealand. Species of Leptospermum are also found in South East Australia (Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania), including species currently considered as L. scoparium. However, the taxonomic characterisation of mānuka is still the subject of debate and the only current knowledge of genetic diversity is through the study of terpene compounds in the foliage... more information.
David's seminar will be held Wednesday October 3rd, 12.00 noon at the Betts Workroom, Union Street Lecture Theatre, Union Street West.
The 17th Annual Geoff Baylis Lecture
Monday 3rd September, 2018
Dr Janice Lord, Department of Botany, University of Otago.
Reweaving species: The role of interactions in ecological restoration.
Recent years have seen increasing community interest in native replanting projects, typically using container grown native species that are easy to propagate.
However, establishment can be patchy and maintenance becomes an issue. A growing trend overseas, “rewilding”, focuses on restoring natural interactions between species and allowing ecological processes to determine outcomes. Could “rewilding”, or other process based approaches work in New Zealand?
This talk explores concepts and approaches to restoration, drawing on experience with the QEII National Trust Mahu Whenua covenants, Otago Lakes District, and other innovative restoration projects, against the background of the 1 Billion Trees government initiative.
Hosted by the Botanical Society of Otago in conjunction with the Department of Botany.
The talk will be held Wednesday 26 September, 6:00pm to 7:00pm, Castle 1, University of Otago.
All welcome.
Postgraduate Student Seminars
Monday 3rd September, 2018
Four of our postgraduate student have talks, scheduled for Wednesday, September 5th, 12.00pm in the Betts Workroom, Union Street Lecture Theatre Building, Union Street West. All welcome.
Karri Hartley
Postgraduate Diploma in Science (Botany), Historical botany of the 1874 French Transit of Venus Expedition to subantarctic Campbell Island.
Jessica Fitzgerald
BSc Honours (Plant Biotechnology), Can saline priming increase the bioprotective capacity of sprouts?
Joshua Rich
Postgraduate Diploma in Science (Plant Biotechnology), Progress in understanding changes in availability of actinidin in kiwifruit extraction.
James Crofts-Bennett
Postgraduate Diploma in Science (Botany), Spiders as bioindicators of vegetation complexity on a greenroof
Department Seminar - Dr. Soledad Perez Santangelo
Wednesday 1st August, 2018
Dr Soledad Perez Santangelo, Postdoctoral Fellow with the Department of Biochemistry, will be presenting our next seminar.
The title of Soledad's talk is Post-transcriptional regulation of circadian rhythms in plants. More information on Soledad's talk is available on our seminar page.
The seminar is scheduled for Wednesday, August 22nd, 12.00pm, Betts Workroom, Union Street Lecture Theatre, Union Street West.
Department Seminar - Kevin Sheridan
Friday 20th July, 2018
PhD student Kevin Sheridan will be presenting the next department seminar.
The title of Kevin's talk is Distribution of the Photosystem II D1 protein family in cyanobacteria
More information on Kevin's talk is available on our seminar page.
The seminar is scheduled for Wednesday, July 25th, 12.00pm, Betts Workroom, Union Street Lecture Theatre, Union Street West.
BTNY303, Pre-Christmas Summer School paper
Tuesday 17h July, 2018
BTNY303 is run from 12 November 2018 to 15 December 2018, aims to provide a hands-on understanding of New Zealand plant species, the populations and communities of which they are a part, and the ecological relationships with the environments in which they occur.
More information about BTNY303 is available on the Summer School website.
Department Seminar - Delivering genomic solutions to New Zealand's Biological Economy
Tuesday 17h July, 2018
Dr. Shannon Clarke from AgResearch, Invermay, Dunedin will be holding a seminar on Wednesday August 1st at 12 noon in the Betts seminar Room.
The title of Dr Clark's talk is Delivering genomic solutions to New Zealand's Biological Economy. More details are available on our seminar page.
New Zealand International Science Festival
Friday 6th July, 2018
Botany's booth at the New Zealand International Science Festival was a tremendous success! A huge thanks to the staff, and in particular our post-grad students, who made it possible.
Postgrad students and staff at the Botany booth
More information about the event
Department seminar - Esther Dale
Friday 23rd May, 2018
Our next seminar will be held by Esther Dale, PhD candidate.
Esther's talk talk is titled Lineage diversification in relation to biomes: within or across biome boundaries?
More information about about Esther's seminar can be found on our seminars page.
Seminars are held at the Betts Workroom, 24 Union Street West at 12:00 pm.
Department T-shirt available
Monday May 24th, 2018
We have designed some T-shirts for outreach and are planning to print them soon.
If you would like to buy a T-shirt please, pre-order and pay by Wednesday next week. The cost is $25 and the available sizes are attached.
There will be printing on the front (Botany) and back (University of Otago, Department of Botany) on black T-shirts as per the images above.
Department seminar - Esther Dale
Friday 23rd May, 2018
Monday April 23rd April, 2018
The 2018 John Smaillie Tennant Lecture will be presented by Dr Peter de Lange, Associate Professor of Environmental and Animal Sciences at Unitech Institute of Technology.
The title of Peter's is What’s in a name? The politics of plant systematics. More information about the lecture is available on our Tennant Lecture series page.
The Lecture will be held Thursday 24 May at 6 pm-7 pm in Archway 2 lecture Theater, Union Street East.
All welcome.
Department seminar - Ian Geary
Monday April 23rd April, 2018
The department's next seminar will be held by Ian Geary, PhD Candidate of Geology and Botany.
The title of Ian 's talk is Fossil plant and fungal floras of Auckland’s Pliocene.
The seminar will be held on Wednesday, May 2nd, 12.00 pm at the Betts Workroom, 42 Union Street Lecture Theatre, Union Street West.
More information can be found on our seminars page.
Department seminar - Sophie Fern
Wednesday March 28th, 2018
The next seminar will be held by Sophie Fern, PhD Candidate with Botany.
Sophie's talk is titled Does non-human charisma affect conservation decisions in New Zealand?
Seminars are held at the Betts Workroom, 24 Union Street West at 12:00 pm.
More information can be found on our seminars page.
Department seminar - Professor Anna Sher
Thursday 15th march, 2018
The next seminar will be held by Sophie Fern, PhD Candidate with Botany.
Professor Sheer's talk is titled Causes and consequences of exotic tree removal in riparian zones of the Southwestern US
Seminars are held at the Betts Workroom, 24 Union Street West at 12:00 pm.
More information about the talk can be found on our seminars page.
Department seminar - Professor Janneke Hille Ris Lambers
Friday 2nd March, 2018
Our next seminar will be held by Janneke Hille Ris Lambers, Walker Endowed Professor of Natural History, University of Washington, Seattle.
The title of Professor Hille Ris Lambers' talk is Forest Community Assembly in Response to Climate Change.
The seminar will be held on Wednesday, March 14th, 12.00 pm Betts Workroom, Union Street Lecture Theatre, Union Street West.
More information can be found on our seminars page.
Department seminar - Professor Richard Gill
Tuesday 20th February, 2018
Our next seminar will be held by Professor Richard Gill, Department of Biology, Brigham Young University, Utah, USA.
The title of Professor Gill's talk is On the Ecology and Evolution of Dehiscence in NZ Tussock Grasses.
Professor Gill's seminar will be held on Wednesday, February 28th, 12.00 pm, Betts Workroom, Union Street Lecture Theatre, Union Street West.
More information can be found on our seminars page.
Botany Department leading One Billion Trees project
Wednesday, 26 February 2020 10:54pm
Aotearoa’s One Billion Trees programme is working with the University of Otago’s Department of Botany to deliver a project looking to establish large tracts of native forest directly from seeds.
