The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh invite you to join them for a meeting in September celebrating the synergy between academic and field bryology in the UK and internationally. A series of talks on Saturday 9th September will cover topics from bryophyte distribution and identification to systematics and taxonomy, physiology and symbiosis.
The meeting also celebrates 100 years of the British Bryological Society, formed in 1923 from its predecessor the Moss Exchange Club; and the very first World Bryophyte Day!
A short local field trip will be organised for Sunday 10th September.
To register your interest and/or for further information on this event, please contact Neil Bell nbell@rbge.org.uk
The Meeting
The meeting will take place in the science buildings at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. RBGE staff and students as well as BBS members are invited to attend all or part of the conference.
A series of talks on Saturday 9th September will cover topics from bryophyte distribution and identification to systematics and taxonomy, physiology and symbiosis. Further details will be provided closer to the time.
The winning images from the Photo Competition will be on display, and calendars should be available to purchase.
Download provisional programme
Download the meeting report
The Centenary AGM
The BBS Centenary AGM will be held following the main conference, and all BBS members are invited to attend. Exact timings will be confirmed closer to the time.
Field trip
An optional local field trip will be arranged for Sunday 10th. Although the location has yet to be confirmed it is likely to be Alva Glen in Clackmannanshire, slightly less than one hour’s drive from RBGE. Alva Glen is a dramatic, steep-sided wooded gorge on the southern side of the Ochil Hills, opening out onto grazed heathland and grassland higher up. Carboniferous igneous rock provides significant base enrichment and it does not appear to have been surveyed comprehensively for bryophytes in recent years. Although the glen is steep in parts there is a well-used public path all the way up, so it should not present significant difficulties, and for the less active there is plenty of potential for interesting bryologising in the lower sections immediately above the carpark. We are hoping to arrange return transport (coach or minibus) to Alva from RBGE, for which there will be a modest individual charge. Anyone attending the conference is welcome to join the field trip.
Directions and accommodation
Attendees will need to arrange their own accommodation. Note that accommodation in the immediate vicinity of the garden may be quite expensive, although there are many options within relatively easy walking distance including a number of guest houses on Ferry Road. For those able and willing to walk further Leith offers cheaper options and it’s possible to walk to the gardens along the river (The Water of Leith), which is not unpleasant. Those with deeper pockets may want to look at hotels and guest houses in the gentrified Stockbridge area and adjacent areas of the new town north of Queen Street. Many other locations in the centre of town are walkable within 30 minutes and Airbnb may offer the most affordable accommodation options. There is a good bus service, although it tends to be quite slow through the centre.
The entrance to the RBGE science buildings is located at 20A Inverleith Row, EH3 5LR. Note that Google Maps sometimes wrongly shows this address to be on Inverleith Place – the correct location is here: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.9667994,-3.2048028,3a,75y,237.73h,85.41t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sIlR1p59TOpEswnhb8Tb2wQ!2e0!7i16384!8i8192
