Hi all,
I present you with the Autumn 2026 digest, just in time for our hybrid meeting in Galway this week. Enjoy!
All the best,
Eva
Funding Opportunities
The 2026 Irish Naturalists’ Journal Grant Scheme opened for applications on Tuesday 1st September. Closing date: 17:00 13th October, 2026.
Employment Opportunities
- Post-Doctoral Research Fellow – Earth Sciences – University College Dublin – closing 30th September, 2026.
- Senior Technical Officer – Zoology – University of Galway – closing 8th October, 2026.
- Post-Doctoral Researcher – “Future Forests” project – Maynooth University – closing 14th October, 2026.
- Seasonal Guide positions at National Botanic Gardens Glasnevin, Kilmacurragh and JFK Arboretum – closing 16th October, 2026.
Publications
Two new endemic species of Hieracium in Ireland, described from Irish natural history collections.
- Rich, T.C.G. (2026) ‘Two new species of hawkweed Hieracium from Ireland (Asteraceae)’, British & Irish Botany 8(2): 221-232. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33928/bib.2026.08.221
Caleb Threlkeld’s first Irish Flora, Synopsis Stirpium Hibernicarum, turns 300 years old on 27th October, 2026.
- Learn more about this historical landmark for Irish botany here:
Events
- Talk: A Shed less Ordinary: The National Botanic Gardens’ Museum Building.
- Sunday 4th Oct @ 2pm.
- One of the first prefabricated iron buildings in the world, the story of this ormer Museum Building encompasses the great age of industrial exhibitions and Ireland’s involvement in empire. Join OPW guide Gavin Corbett for this one-off talk in the Gardens’ auditorium.
- Booking essential at Eventbrite.
Exhibitions
- “Troubled Waters: The Rise of Aquatic Invaders,” Ulster Museum
- Wednesday 19th August to Sunday 1st November 2026
- Discover the impact of foreign aquatic invasive species on local biodiversity loss, sometimes with huge economic impacts, in this Natural Sciences display at Ulster Museum.
Collections News
DBN Herbarium (National Botanic Gardens, OPW) and collaborators launch PLEDGE: “Plants on the Edge”
PLEDGE project has been approved for funding under the 6th call of the Northern Periphery and Arctic Interreg programme.
NPA regions share climate change challenges of biodiversity loss, ecosystem degradation & limited capacity to safeguard wild plant genetic resources in remote regions. Conserving a species outside of a natural habitat (i.e. ex-situ conservation) creates an ark for survival. Ireland, Iceland & Finland share vulnerable coastal, peatland & arctic-alpine species, but ex-situ conservation capacity is fragmented.
PLEDGE will strengthen climate resilience by building an ex-situ conservation network, resulting in better preparedness to restore threatened plant species. Jointly developed & implemented conservation action plans & ex-situ conservation solutions will result in long-term preservation of species of transnational importance. Beneficiaries are conservation bodies, land managers, policymakers & NPA communities, as well as the species & ecosystems at risk.
Trinity College Dublin Herbarium officially reopened
Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan TD, formally reopened Trinity College Dublin’s historic Herbarium on the 16th of September following a major programme of restoration and transformation supported by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS).
The reopening was marked by a private event at Trinity, at which Minister O’Sullivan cut a ribbon and digitised a 200-year-old plant specimen collected in 1809 by Ellen Hutchins, “Ireland’s First Female Botanist”, from his Cork South-West Constituency. Representatives of the National Parks and Wildlife Service also attended the event.
Minister of State for Nature, Heritage and Biodiversity, Christopher O’Sullivan TD said:
“I am delighted to officially re-open Trinity’s Herbarium today here in the Botany Department. This amazing place is a remarkable treasure trove that, for centuries, has collected, catalogued and conserved specimens of plants from all over the world. I’m especially proud that the National Parks and Wildlife Service has been able to support the Herbarium’s transformation project and invest in its protection and modernisation. Today marks an important milestone in ensuring that these priceless records can continue to support scientific discovery and education and deepen public engagement in the natural environment.”
You can follow stories from Trinity College Dublin herbarium on their new Instagram account, @tcd_herbarium.
Policy News
The 17th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD COP17) will be hosted by Armenia in its capital, Yerevan, from 19th to 30th October, 2026. Read more here: https://www.cop17yerevangreenzone.com/
Gallery
Professor Jennifer McElwain, Head of Botany, speaks at the TCD Herbarium Launch, following closure for extensive renovations, on 31st August 2026. Image courtesy of Paolo Viscardi.
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