Happy New Year from us at the Linnean Society! Enjoy this print of an advertisement for Pain's Fireworks for Queen Victoria's Jubilee in 1887. You can even get a print of it here: buff.ly/OYLcWDQ

As we come to the end of our 2025 highlights, this feels like a fitting way to close the year. Our Founder’s Day Lecture was a flagship moment, celebrating Gilbert White’s revolutionary way of seeing nature. Fellow of the Linnean Society Jenny Uglow brought his values and ideas vividly to life.

Wool you come to our event? Monica Stenzel will trace the history of sheep's wool over the millenia, its traditional use and modern reinterpretation through science, as well as its role in the future of clothing. 📍Linnean society, Piccadilly 📆 6pm, 25 February 2026 🎟️ From £8 buff.ly/jsvezrP

Thirty, and flirty and AI-ing? It's hard to deny the impact AI has had on the world this year, highlighted here in a guest blog about its use in scientific research in our Botanical Journal! Did you know Machine Learning can help detect salt stress in plants? 🌍🧪 Check it out 👇 buff.ly/pU9nbpv

Pint of Science...One of our standout highlights of 2025 🦤🎶 Dodos, Giggles, and Unexpected Hits sold out fast, bringing cutting-edge dodo science from Dr Neil Gostling and brilliant musical comedy from Helen Arney... a truly unforgettable night at the Linnean Society.

Our historic collections have been seen by a huge range of collaborators and visitors from around the world this year. Our team are always happy to provide tours for groups and clubs, or for schools and universities. Find out more at buff.ly/WZaTeR6

Our Green Careers Conference hosted with the British Ecological Society brings together green employers, inspirational speakers, and bright, enthusiastic young people looking to take the next steps in their careers by networking, workshopping their CVs, and honing their interview skills.

'Herbarium Cabinet', a beautiful work by Tess and Alfred Newall, was on display for one week only as part of London Craft Week in May. With gorgeous hand-painted flowers on beautifully-designed furnishings, it was a delightful addition to our library.

This Christmas Day, we're sharing a festive favourite with a scientific past. This illustration of Poinsettia pulcherrima comes from Fleurs de Java (1742), created during the Linnean age of botanical discovery. From science to Christmas tradition, season’s greetings from us at the Society!

"This is an incredible space, I discovered it just passing. A beautiful exhibition, so peaceful too. When I retire, I will come here and read a few of these beautiful books!" Quite the review! We look forward to welcoming many more visitors to our magical little bit of Burlington House next year.

Our school workshops took off running this year, with a nearly 50% increase in students engaging with classification, evolution and life cycles. You can find out more about our education offer by visiting our website here: buff.ly/fyRjHfF

SO ready for lift off - especially with Maggie....! 🚀👩🏾‍🚀

📍 Online Lecture 📆 Jan 23, 12:30 -1:30 ✨ Join Simon Pooley as he discusses the okapi, a rainforest giraffid which has become a symbol of scientific curiosity, colonial power, and conservation challenges. Grab your free tickets here: buff.ly/CGq6rfy

Our most-attended online lecture of 2025 explored how Madagascar’s birds evolved in isolation, shaping one of the world’s most remarkable avian assemblages. Over 200 people joined Dr Sushma Reddy for an evening of insight into island evolution and biodiversity. Congratulations Sushma!

What has over 61,000 records, and over 218,000 images? Why it's the new home for our digitised collections, Linnean Online. The new platform is part of our work to share our scientifically and historically significant collections with the world. Find out more about the project at buff.ly/Uk2mDRV

This year Our Local Nature Grant funded seven youth-led projects. Young bee keepers, plant kits for children recently released from hospital, bird boxes, insect hotels, nature trails... You name it, they've made it! Read more about the achievements of this year's grant awardees here: buff.ly/b78hptr

We've had a full year of Lunchtime Lectures on a wide range of topics, from woodland management to mountain lizards; tigers to hedgehogs; e-coli to 16th century botanical art. You can watch them here on our YouTube channel: buff.ly/wewQSNi

🪶 Discover how one man’s intimate observations of swifts, frogs, and fields sparked a revolution in our understanding of nature. Catch up with Jenny Uglow's illustrated talk on Gilbert White, exploring how he came to be called ‘the father of ecology’. Watch it now on YouTube:

Take a close-up look at Robert Brown's microscope from the comfort of your home. Our January Linnean lens will look at the microsope, used by the Scottish naturalist to make vital discoveries about the natural world. 📆 14:00, 13 January 2026 📍Online via Zoom 🎟️ Free buff.ly/OXJJinr

Worm news! 🪱 Two new polychaete species + a new subfamily from #Indonesia, led by Joko Pamungkas (Senckenberg Global Fellow). Fresh out in #ZJLS. @linneansociety.bsky.social @sgn.one @oceanspecies.bsky.social #Polychaeta #Taxonomy #NewSpecies #Nereididae #Dendronereidinae #Tylorrhynchinae

What's behind the 18th door on our LinnSoc Highlights calendar? Our fantastic one-day symposium on Organismal Resilience in a Rapidly Changing World! With 18 wonderful speakers hosting an engaging & informed discussion, our Biological Journal looks forward to the related Special Issue next year! 🌍🧪

Our Treasure of the Month blogs investigate the stories behind items in our collection. A 2025 highlight was this look at the notebooks used by Alfred Russel Wallace during his Malay Archipelago expedition (1854-62) and how we are working to conserve them. buff.ly/UkKJCQk

🌷 Uncover how global voyages, rare specimens and vital Indigenous knowledge reshaped the making of British natural history. Join Dr Edwin Rose as he discusses his recent book, Reading the World: British Practices of Natural History 1760-1820. 📆 4 Feb 2026 Tickets here: buff.ly/eNIDzHM

Our Medals and Awards are a highlight of any year, and 2025 was no expection. The awards recognised lifetimes of acievement, as well as rising stars in the fields of research, conservation, botanical art and advocacy.

Sharing natural history collections through unusual sights, sounds and even smells was the theme of our symposium in February. In collaboration with @qmul.bsky.social and @bshsnews.bsky.social, the event explored new ways of (Re)Discovering Natural History.

If you missed the @linneansociety.bsky.social's annual lecture in #Edinburgh last month, you can watch it now on YouTube! 👇 Hear Mark Blaxter (@sangerinstitute.bsky.social) give an inspiring overview of the Tree of Life Project! 🌳🦋🐒 www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cca7...

It's #WorldMonkeyDay today! Despite being only a few short branches away from us on the tree of life, more than half of all primate species (monkeys included!) face extinction. By studying and protecting the natural world, we secure a brighter future not just for the monkeys, but ourselves as well.

By grabbing yourself a set of our nature-inspired greetings cards, you are supporting our 237 year old charity! Don't have time to drop by our shop in Piccadilly? You can have a browse online too buff.ly/njpQOqC

Over 800 people have attended Linnean Lens talks this year, with our most popular being Leonhard Fuchs's History of Plants. You can watch it, and all our other Linnean Lenses here: buff.ly/MidnesM

Still buzzing from our Christmas Lecture! Pete Wyer lit up the room and premiered his intimate library version of Mannaz: 72 bird-inspired voices evolving into one harmony, drawn from the idea that human speech has birdsong roots. A curious, musical night, and a perfect end to our 2025!

In September, our president, Dr Mark Watson, delivered a lecture on the ongoing changes to the Linnean Society, wherein he looked back to look forward and shared insights into our strategy, our home at Burlington House, and the future of the Society. You can read more about it here: buff.ly/ADc4ffx

At Open House this year we welcomed over a thousand visitors to our historic building. Visitors explored our collections and the library, and got stuck in to some natural history inspired origami!

Don't miss out on our Symposium: Exploring Queerness in Natural History, where we explore topics such as how we uncover and research LGBTQ+ and queer ecological histories and identities. 📆 February 05, 10:00 - 19:00 📍 Linnean Society of London Book your tickets here:

Slaying at the Linnean, this blog gets 10s across the board from us! Kicking off our journal blog 'The Paper Trail', this paper in our Zoological Journal turned some heads not just because of its looks, but because this 'tropical' butterfly was found hiding in the snow! 🌍🧪👇🦋 buff.ly/S7wr5Td

We've been supported by the Mayor of London's #GreenRoots Fund for 'The London Wave' - London-based, youth-led projects to improve blue spaces and connect communities. We're excited to begin the project next year, running alongside the national Our Local Nature Grants scheme. buff.ly/ifl3UO3

This year saw the start of our Nature Networks project in secondary schools across north and west London. Funded by the John Lyon’s Charity, we’re working to engage 11–14-year-olds with nature in their local area through science, art and creativity, and enthuse the naturalists of the future!

2025 has been a fantastic year for our nature walks, especially our bat walks! Led by our bat expert Journal Officer and equipped with bat detectors, visitors enjoyed exploring Battersea Park and learning all about our night-time neighbours.

Come and see an array of material from our archive on display in our free exhibition, 'Wonder', including playing cards, Victorian knitting patterns, lockets of hair, and bat scales. buff.ly/JUTYPY0 #EYAYourArchives

Our Naturalists' Notebooks exhibition brought out the note-maker in everyone, with around 2,500 visits, and a full programme of events and school visits. Check out the launch lecture from Roland Allen, drawing from his book 'The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper'. buff.ly/qI0G4OQ

Friends and family celebrating 25 years of marriage for the Silver wedding anniversary of D.H. and Rina Scott, with a handy key to remember all of those many faces. (SCO/1/6/3) #EYAAnniversaries

This year, we released a 2nd edition of our popular L:50 book with a foreword from our Vice Patron, Sir David Attenborough. The new edition includes updates and new pages on recent acquisitions such as John Tyley's breadfruit tree. (And it makes a great gift...) buff.ly/KeMY4zs

We have a few FLSs (Fellows of the Linnean Society) in our @beyondnotables.bsky.social database. Here is a short list of BN women associated with the Linnean Society beyond-notability.wikibase.cloud/wiki/Special...

Women were first admitted to the Linnean Society in 1905, after a campaign by Marian Farquharson. This portrait by James Sant shows the first formal admission of women as Fellows. buff.ly/vcmY3sD #EYAInclusion

On the fifth day of Christmas, Linnaeus gave to me...FIVE ANOLES! Well, more like anoles adapting to temperature change in the Andes, as taught to us in this lunchtime lecture! Kicking off the journal series, it contributed to the 1000+ lecture attendees this year! 🌍🧪Check it out👇 buff.ly/Tgjn9Pk

The artist Niki Simpson pioneered the use of #digital techniques that were developing in the early 2000s for the purpose of botanical illustration, as shown here in her piece on the Poinsettia. #christmas #EYADigital

We've had a busy year of workshops at the Linnean Society! Creative visitors have gone home with homemade notebooks, floral clocks, and prints made with light, among many other wonderful creations. We are looking forward to an even more crafty 2026!

Our recent talk with @sbilston.bsky.social - The Lost Orchid: Hunting an Icon in the Linnean Society Archives - is now on YouTube! Discover how a mysterious orchid sparked Victorian “orchid mania,” and how clues in our archives helped unravel its origins. Watch here:

Carl Linnaeus's beloved pet raccoon, Sjupp, was a gift from the King of Sweden, and regularly stole snacks from Linnaeus's students. This drawing is thought to be Sjupp. (LM/PF/ALS/1) #EYAPets

Darwin's archive, including Collier's famous portrait, was recognised on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register this year. The project was a collaboration with @theul.bsky.social, @nhm-london.bsky.social, English Heritage’s Down House, @rbgkew.bsky.social & @natlibscot.bsky.social. buff.ly/3J80NI8

As you may well know, the Linnean Society is absolutely batty about bats. That's why we have uploaded Dr Iroro Tanshi's recent Lunchtime Lecture to YouTube, so you won't miss out on any top-tier bat content. Check it out at the link below! buff.ly/Q2uxZgW