Programme - State of the World's Plants & Fungi Symposium
What to expect from 29 June – 1 July 2026
The symposium is based around six themed sessions in which invited experts will explore critical topics through presentations and Q&A panel discussions.
In addition, in-person attendees will have the opportunity to participate in a workshop to contribute their ideas towards an open access publication about how best to galvanise global support to increase digitisation in biodiverse, low-income countries. Please note, the workshop is not available to online participants.
All timings are in UK time (UTC+1). The exact timings and order may change slightly as details are confirmed. Please visit this page for up-to-date programme information.
10:00–11:55 - Registration and refreshments
11:55–12:40 - Welcome and opening address
Anjali Goswami, Defra Chief Scientific Adviser and Director General for Science, Data and Analysis, UK
Alexandre Antonelli, Executive Director of Science, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
12:40–13:40 - Lunch
13:40–15:30 - Session 1: Digitisation success stories from around the world
Chair: Isabel Larridon, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
Marianne Le Roux, South African National Biodiversity Institute (SANBI), South Africa
Leveraging herbarium digitisation for biodiversity gains: Success stories from Southern Africa
Andrey Yurkov, Leibniz Institute DSMZ – German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures, Germany
Lessons and perspectives for fungal data integration from microbial collections
Hannah McPherson, National Herbarium of New South Wales, Australia
Digitisation success stories from Australasia
Carlos Jaramillo, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Panama
PollenGeo: Unlocking the full potential of palynology
Q&A panel discussion
15:30–16:00 - Refreshment break
16:00–17:20 - Workshop: Supporting digitisation in biodiverse, low-income countries
Chairs: Emily Sessa, New York Botanical Garden, USA & Nivohenintsoa Rakotonirina, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Madagascar
Available to in-person attendees only
17:20 – 17:30 Comfort break
17:30–18:00 - Flash poster presentations – part 1
Chair: Phil Stevenson, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
One-minute flash talks selected from abstracts submitted: Odd-numbered posters only
18:00–19:00 Drinks reception and poster session
Available to in-person attendees only
09:00–10:30 - Behind the scenes tours
10:30–11:00 - Refreshment break
11:00–12:30 - Session 2: New frontiers in specimen science
Sponsored by Annals of Botany
Chair: Sarah Greasley, Trustee of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
Damon Little, The New York Botanical Garden, USA
Sòlarsteinn: A georeferencing artificial intelligence
Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Harvard University Herbaria, USA
Next-generation specimen digitisation to capture reflectance spectra and functional traits from the world's herbaria
Juri Felix, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
Using herbaria and fungaria to provide insights into the metabolic biodiversity of plants and fungi
Q&A panel discussion
12:30–13:30 - Lunch
13:30–14:50 - Session 3: Unlocking specimen data to accelerate biodiversity knowledge – part 1
Chair: Carrie Andrew, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
Sue Han Lee, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Malaysia
Unlocking biodiversity knowledge with AI: Transforming specimen data into actionable ecosystem intelligence
Rokiman Letsara, University of Antananarivo, Madagascar
Advancing biodiversity knowledge through specimen digitisation: Case studies from Madagascar
Aelys Humphreys, Stockholm University, Sweden
New uses of digitised specimen data for improving understanding of species extinction
Qiang Wang, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China
The use of digitised specimens to advance knowledge on the effects of climate change on the distributions and phenology of plants
14:50–15:05 - Group photo
15:05–15:35 - Refreshment break
15:35–17:00 - Session 3: Unlocking specimen data to accelerate biodiversity knowledge – part 2
Chair: Carrie Andrew, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
Daniel Zhigila, Gombe State University, Nigeria
When herbaria remain silent: Bias, growth and value in Nigerian collections
Larissa Trierveiler Pereira, Federal University of São Carlos, Brazil
From specimen data to conservation: Advancing knowledge of Brazil’s fungal diversity
Q&A panel discussion
17:00–17:15 - Comfort break
17:15–17:45 - Flash poster presentations – part 2
Chair: Phil Stevenson, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
One-minute flash talks selected from abstracts submitted: Even-numbered posters only
17:45–18:45 - Drinks reception and poster session
Available to in-person attendees only
19:00–22:00 - Symposium dinner
Sponsored by Max Communications
Available to in-person attendees only (pre-booking required)
10:00–11:30 - Session 4: Tapping into the biocultural wealth of collections
Chair: Mark Nesbitt, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
Ina Vandebroek, The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica
Responsible digitisation of biocultural data in herbarium collections
Maui Hudson, Te Kotahi Research Institute, New Zealand
Acknowledging local contexts: Recognising indigenous knowledge and provenance as part of the biocultural value of collections
Viviane Stern da Fonseca-Kruel, Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden Research Institute, Brazil
Connecting tradition and technology: The digitisation of the Ethnobotanical Collection at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden
Q&A panel discussion
11:30–12:00 - Refreshment break
12:00–13:00 - Session 5: Digital data, open access and sovereign rights
Chair: Tom Livermore, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
Mphatso Martha Kalemba, Environmental Affairs Department, Ministry of Natural Resources and Climate Change, Malawi
The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and global frameworks
Quentin Groom, Meise Botanic Garden, Belgium
An institutional perspective
Paula Westenberger, Brunel University of London, UK
AI and legislative frameworks
Q&A panel discussion
13:00–14:00 - Lunch and Fungarium tour
14:00–15:20 - Session 6: Developing digital evidence for biodiversity policy
Chair: Paul Kersey, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
Dame Angela McLean DBE FRS, Government Chief Scientific Adviser, UK
Celebrating the completion of Kew’s digitisation project
Alan Paton, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
Digitising Kew’s Herbarium and Fungarium
Ester Gaya, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
Fungal museomics at scale: Two-year progress of the Fungarium Sequencing Project (FSP)
Vincent S. Smith, The Natural History Museum, London, UK
DiSSCo and updates on the UK-wide digitisation project
Joe Miller, Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF), Denmark
Digitised open data has global impact
Q&A panel discussion: Developing digital evidence for biodiversity policy
15:20–15:50 - Refreshment break
15:50–16:20 - Summary and key points for open letter
Alexandre Antonelli, Executive Director of Science, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
16:20–17:20 - Supercharging biodiversity conservation: The powers and pitfalls of AI
Host: Penny Sarchet, Managing Editor of New Scientist in conversation with…
Pierre Bonnet, CIRAD, France
Juhie Radia, Data Analyst and RBG Kew Youth Council, UK
17:20–17:30 - Poster awards and closing remarks
Sponsored by Annals of Botany
Host: Alexandre Antonelli, Executive Director of Science, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK
