Hertfordshire researcher becomes new president of Botanical Society

On 12thJune, Dr Ian Denholm, from the University of Hertfordshire’s School of Life and Medical Sciences, becomes the new President of the Botanical Society of the British Isles (BSBI).

Ian has been a driving force behind the society’s recent initiatives in publicity and outreach. His presentation to journalists and conservationists, at the May 2013 launch of the State of Nature report, showcased BSBI as a key partner in this new coalition of conservation and research organisations supporting British wildlife. The society is one of the world’s leading contributors of biological records and Ian co-ordinated last year’s highly successful Mapping Conference, held at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh.

Ian Denholm comments: “BSBI’s structured species’ recording and mapping projects revolutionised approaches to monitoring our flora and fauna, and have had a lasting, international influence on how wildlife is recorded, mapped and monitored. The success of these projects is due to the dedication, expertise and enthusiasm of our thousands of members, past, present and future.”

Ian is research leader in Geography, Environment and Agriculture at the University of Hertfordshire with particular interest in the ecology and systematics of wild orchids. Orchids have an iconic status in conservation biology and are well suited for research at the interface of ecology and evolution. Ian and his BSBI co-referee, Professor Richard Batemen (Kew), are the botanical experts to whom the society’s 3,000 members and the wider botanical community, turn to for advice on correct identification of these difficult plants.

Ian spent thirty years as an agricultural scientist at Rothamsted Research, heading their Plant and Invertebrate Ecology Department, while remaining very active in field botany and within BSBI. He now combines a Visiting Scientist role at Rothamsted with his research position at the University of Hertfordshire. 

Ian hopes to build on the excellent contributions of his predecessor, Ian Bonner, and help reshape the society as it reconsiders its role in 21stcentury botany. He is particularly keen to see greater recognition and exploitation of BSBI’s scientific resources.

ENDS

For more information, please contact Julie Cooper, University of Hertfordshire Press Office on 01707 284095, Email: j.cooper5@herts.ac.uk

Notes to Editor

About the University of Hertfordshire

The University is the UK’s leading business-facing university and an exemplar in the sector.  It is innovative and enterprising and challenges individuals and organisations to excel. 

The University of Hertfordshire is one of the region’s largest employers with over 2,650 staff and a turnover of almost £233 million.

With a student community of over 27,200 including more than 2,800 students from eighty-five different countries, the University has a global network of over 175,000 alumni. 

It is also one of the top 100 universities in the world under 50 years old, according to the new Times Higher Education 100 under 50 rankings 2012.

For more information, please visit www.herts.ac.uk

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