Profile Spotlight: Dr. Crispus Mbaluto is a Senior Research Officer, at the School Life Sciences, University of Essex, UK. Head to our website to learn more about how the spirit of “why not give it a try” has propelled Crispus throughout his career.https://buff.ly/TtIxUya

Profile Spotlight: George Washington Carver. In this guest article written by Fatima Arshad we share reflections on George Washington Carver's contributions to regenerative agriculture and sustainability. Read more here: buff.ly/73wJWuP

The Black in Plant Science Conference 2025! It's been just a little over a month since the biggest date in our calendar and what a day it was. Thank you to everyone who took part and we look forward to seeing you again next time! Read more here: buff.ly/Q5hJdWp

🪧 Upcoming Opportunities! We recently updated our website with some exciting opportunities. From scholarships specifically for Black students to PhD programmes across the country there are an incredible number of options. Head to our website for more details: buff.ly/uVvFtBk

📢Speaker Announcement: Jessica Ashman 🧾Panel: The Journey of Plants through Black Botanist Jessica Ashman is a Jamaican British interdisciplinary artist, based in London. Her practice is informed by the hidden histories of the Black British Jamaican diaspora communities. Learn more: buff.ly/sFFQC8y

📢Speaker Announcement: Dr Christine Eyene  🧾Panel: The Journey of Plants through Black Botanist Christine Eyene is an art historian, critic and curator. She is Senior Lecturer in Contemporary Art at Liverpool John Moores University. Learn more about Christine and register here: buff.ly/jWhjAei

📢Speaker Announcement: CARGO Movement 🧾Panel: The Journey of Plants through Black Botanist CARGO is a not for profit organisation founded in 2016 by creative director Charles Golding and Poet Lawrence Hoo. Learn more about CARGO Movement and register here: buff.ly/jWhjAei

📢You have until this Sunday evening to register for the Black in Plant Science Conference 2025! Join us for an unforgettable day of connection and celebration and hear from some of the leading plant enthusiasts from the UK and beyond. Register here: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/1362997455...

📢Speaker Announcement: Jade Bleau 🧾Panel: The Journey of Plants through Black Botanist Jade Bleau, PhD, is a Postdoctoral Research Assistant at the University of Dundee/James Hutton Institute. Learn more about Jade and register here: buff.ly/jWhjAei

We are so honoured that we are hosting our second Black in Plant Science Conference which wouldn't be possible without our incredible sponsors: @TheGatsbyFoundation @SEB @JohnInnesCentre @UniversityofLeeds @GrowMoreFoundation @NewPhytologist @ThePlantJournal @BioImaging UK and @PhysicsofLife

📢Panel Announcement: The Journey of Plants through Black Botanist Join us for an inspiring and educational panel exploring the profound connections between plants, people, and the powerful legacy of Black botanists throughout history and today. Register here: buff.ly/D0t0mgb

📢Deadlines fast approaching for the BiPS Conference 2025! Join us for a day of connection and celebration where we'll be hearing from the renowned academics Nicola Patron and Kevin Cox. With workshops on a variety of topics and a chance for you to build your community. Register: buff.ly/J9PM0Wj

📢Speaker Announcement: Katharine Hubbard 🧾Workshop: Culturally Sensitive Mentoring Dr Katharine Hubbard is a leading expert in areas including equity within HE, awarding gaps, effective pedagogies within STEM subjects and career support for education focussed academics. Learn more: buff.ly/huckAbw

📢Speaker Announcement: Chloe Lewis 🧾Workshop: Culturally Sensitive Mentoring Chloe Lewis is the founder and Programme Director of The Catalyst Collective, an organisation that pairs Black teenage girls with Black women mentors for high impact mentoring experiences. Learn more: buff.ly/huckAbw

📢Workshop Announcement: Culturally Sensitive Mentoring Chaired by Yoselin Benitez-Alfonso alongside Dr Katharine Hubbard and Chloe Lewis this interactive workshop equips mentors with the tools to engage meaningfully across cultures. To find out more, head to our website: buff.ly/huckAbw

🌿 Calling All Undergrads! Black in Plant Science Conference 2025 - Friday 24 September - 🤝 Meet fellow students & researchers - 🎤 Hear from inspiring speakers - 🍃 Build your academic and social community - 🎓 Student Fee: £15 🔗 Register Here: buff.ly/cdIr29N

📢Speaker Announcement: Lisa-Dionne Morris 🧾Workshop: Working beyond academia, different routes Professor Lisa-Dionne Morris is a distinguished UK-based Black female leader who is transforming the landscape of leadership, equity, and diversity in academia & beyond. Learn more here: buff.ly/sFFQC8y

📢Speaker Announcement: Brian Chimzinga 🧾Workshop: Working beyond academia, different routes Brian is a crop scientist and certified seed inspector specialising in cereals and pulses, currently working with the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA). Learn more and register here: buff.ly/sFFQC8y

🌿 Thinking of joining the Black in Plant Science Conference but worried about cost? Don’t be! 💸 This conference is intentionally affordable — because access to science, community, and opportunity shouldn’t come with a hefty price tag. 🔗 buff.ly/smf8LAP 📅 Friday 24 October 📍 University of Leeds

📢Speaker Announcement: Bharat Pokhrel 🧾Workshop: Working beyond academia, different routes Dr Bharat Pokhrel is a Research Development Manager, where he supports the development of large-scale research and innovation proposals in engineering and physical sciences. Learn more here: buff.ly/XYpRIHy

🌿 Black in Plant Science Conference 2025 🌿 Join us for a powerful celebration of Black excellence in plant research! 🗓️ Registration & Poster Submission Deadline: 28 Sept 2025 📍 Connect with researchers, share your work, and grow your network. 🎟️ Register now: 🔗 buff.ly/ax54FQ4

📢Workshop Announcement: Working beyond academia, different routes Chaired by John Baison, our panel includes Lisa-Dionne Morris, Bharat Pokhrel and Brian Chimzinga. We look forward to introducing you to them over the next couple of weeks. Feeling impatient, head to our website: buff.ly/sFFQC8y

🚨 Travel Grant Deadline: 14 Aug! Heading to the Black in Plant Science Conference? Apply for a travel grant and attend stress-free! 🎟️ Awardees get: ✅ Free registration 🚆 Up to £75 for UK travel Celebrate Black excellence in plant research 🌱🖤 Email: [email protected]

📢Plant proteins: functions, regulation, production and utility will be taking place on taking place between 21-23 October 2025 in Leeds, UK. 🎟️Abstract submission and early bird deadline is 21 August 2025: buff.ly/uDknNMh 💷 £300 bursary funding for new and existing Biochemical Society members.

📢Speaker Announcement: Beatrice Ifie 🧾Workshop: Delivering Impact on African Crops Dr Beatrice Elohor Ifie is a Senior Research Fellow in Plant Breeding at the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS), Aberystwyth University, Wales. Learn more here: buff.ly/sFFQC8y

📢Speaker Announcement: Oluwaseyi Shorinola 🧾Workshop: Delivering Impact on African Crops Oluwaseyi (Seyi for short) Shorinola is an Assistant Professor of Plant Biology at the University of Birmingham. Learn more about Seyi and register here: buff.ly/sFFQC8y

📢Speaker Announcement: Katherine Denby 🧾Workshop: Delivering Impact on African Crops Professor Katherine Denby is a member of the Centre for Novel Agricultural Products (cnap.org.uk) in the Biology Department at the University of York. Learn more about Katherine and register here: buff.ly/sFFQC8y

📢Workshop Announcement: Delivering Impact on African Crops Chaired by Nicola Patron, our panel includes Katherine Denby, Oluwaseyi Shorinola and Beatrice Ifie. We look forward to introducing you to them over the next couple of weeks. Feeling impatient, head to our website: buff.ly/sFFQC8y

📢Speaker Announcement We are thrilled to announce our plenary speakers for the Black in Plant Science Conference 2025. Nicola Patron and Kevin Cox, learn about them here: buff.ly/LY7t2AH Registration is now open, for you to hear from our inspirational speakers! Register here: buff.ly/FaqOp7n

🎉We're pleased to announce that our very own Jade Bleau has been awarded the NAASC Earlier Career Community Impact Award. We would also like to extend our congratulations to the other winners: 💐Joanna Friesner, Jose Dinneny, Dawn Nagel, Natanella Elouz-Elias, Nick Provart and Anna Stepanova.

It is great to be able to share time with our two Research Excellence Awardees for @blackinplantsci.bsky.social ! They will go places!!! @crispus-mbaluto.bsky.social and @ Charlene Kunaka-Dambire

Summer Studentship 2025 - Meet Our Students! We are pleased to introduce you to Hamda Hassan and Noir Tucker who tell you more about themselves on our website - buff.ly/jBvClog. We can't wait to hear all about what they get up to at our conference on Friday 24 October 2025. Registration now open!

Mikhaela Neequaye will be speaking at an upcoming webinar hosted by BioSci Toolkit CIC on Wed 4 June, marking World Environment Day. In the meeting they'll be discussing an important and timely topic: representation in environmental science, plant science, and ecology. Book here: buff.ly/yoK8lb8

If you haven't already - make sure to save the date to the Black in Plant Science Conference taking place on Friday 24 October at the University of Leeds. Registration will soon be opening so make sure to save the date to avoid disappointment.

Meet Yoselin Benitez-Alfonso (she/her) is a Professor in Interdisciplinary Plant Sciences at the University of Leeds, where she is also a UKRI Future Leader Fellow. Learn more about the network’s chair by heading to our website: buff.ly/5WJKbiP

If you’re in the south of the country there’s an exhibition for plant enthusiasts at the Bristol Museum and Art Gallery featuring the work of artist Jessica Ashman - ‘Those that do not smile will kill me’.  Further info: buff.ly/zMbMWPc

Bernice Ngina Waweru (she/her) is a third-year PhD student at the University of East Anglia, doing research at the John Innes Centre, under the supervision of Prof. Cristobal Uauy. Her research focuses on plant science and genomics data analysis.https://buff.ly/wgLvDUE

🎉 Meet the winners of this year’s BiPS Research Excellence Award, Charlene Dambire and Crispus Mbaluto. We'll soon be sharing their profiles so that you can get to know our winners better. For now, join us in congratulating them. If you’re heading to ICAR this summer, please be sure to say hi.

There’s only one week left to apply for the BiPS Summer Studentship. Like the students from our cohort last year, you will have the opportunity to present at the 2025 BiPS Conference. Head to the link in our website for the list of projects that you could possibly take part in: buff.ly/lDqP68H

Mikhaela Neequaye (she/her) is a British-Ghanaian researcher, currently working as a Research Assistant at John Innes Centre (Norwich, UK). She is working on regulation of plant-pollinator interactions in the lab of Dr Kelsey Byers. You can learn more about Mikhaela here: buff.ly/uUHq2Bs

Maureen is a Black African, Igbo Mum from Nimo, Nigeria. In the last 15y, she has enjoyed working in education. As her children got older and more independent, she devoted her time to STEM research. Her journey in academia has come with plenty of upheavals, bottlenecks, and gains. buff.ly/KjS5kf7

We are proud to be great supporters of #womeninscience. Please join us in celebrating the numerous women that have contributed to building our network. We intend to #AccelerateAction so that next year we can see more women in plant science and science more generally. #IWD2025 #BlackinSTEM

SAVE THE DATE – Friday 24 October 2025 It’s time to mark your calendars and get ready for the Black in Plant Science Conference 2025. This year’s conference will be taking place at The University of Leeds in the cutting-edge Helix venue. Details of registration and the programme soon to follow.

Nicola Patron, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge. Her group use synthetic biology approaches to investigate plant gene expression & metabolism. Of Trinidadian descent, Nicola was born and educated in the U.K. Full profile: buff.ly/3EWYWKs

Could you be amongst the next cohort of BiPS Summer Studentships? This year we want to ensure that it's more accessible for those from low economic backgrounds and ensure that there is adequate support from host labs. You can apply and learn more about the last cohort here: https://buff.ly/4b7frji

Introducing Sibongile Zimba, a Black African, originally from Malawi. She’s been in academia since 2012 and has always been fascinated by plant biology and enjoys working on projects that cut across multiple disciplines to influence policy. Head to our website for more: https://buff.ly/3Qmqziv

Applications for the Black in Plant Science Research Excellence Award are now closed. Thank you to all those that nominated applicants and to all those that applied. If you are an undergraduate student, there is still time for you to apply to the Summer Studentships for 2025.

In 2024, we hosted the first Black in Plant Science UK Conference at The Sainsbury Lab Cambridge University. Soon we’ll be sharing details for the next conference, keep your calendars open for October 2025 to join plant enthusiasts from across the UK to celebrate Black excellence in Plant Science.

Profile: John is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and cereal geneticist based at RAGT Seeds Ltd., focusing on the implementation of genomic and genetic solutions to cereal breeding. Head to the link in our bio for the full video and transcript. https://buff.ly/4aWpLua

The deadline for the Research Excellence Award has now been extended to Friday 14 February and we are calling on all supervisors and PIs to nominate any ECRs they believe to be eligible for this award. Please contact us with a name and email of the candidate at [email protected].