Apologies if you didn't receive The Week in Botany at the usual time last week. The email has been a bit heavy in file weight for a while, and adding more jobs may have pushed it over the limit. This week, if I'd included everything, we would have had over 70 posts for careers. Instead I just have slightly over 30 included below. My priority this week will be working out how to have a careers page on site.

In trying to add more information in fewer kilobytes, I've stripped back a lot of the formatting to improve deliverability of this as an email. I've also cut back the Scientific Papers section to just three titles. I know this will not be popular with some people. If you're one of them, I sympathise. Instead of just covering eleven papers, I've started posting the top twenty shared papers from Bluesky on a Saturday afternoon to the site as Science Shared. The top ten get the same coverage as before, and they all include the Bluesky posts that surfaced them to others.

The Plant Dashboard I previewed earlier will be sticking around. I'm finding it useful for the Plant of the Week posts, so it might be useful for others. This week I've improved the look of the distribution maps, making them more legible. I'll try to launch the dashboard properly this week, when I'll include a bookmarklet I use. This is a tool that, for any species name, I can highlight the text, press a button, and the browser will open a new window with the plant loaded in the dashboard.

There'll be another issue of The Week in Botany, with what you're sharing on Mastodon and Bluesky each week at the usual time, if I have everything correct. Until then, take care.

Alun (webmaster@botany.one)

On Botany One

What Tiny Orchid Seeds Reveal About Their Evolution
New research on Central African orchids reveals that even the smallest seeds can preserve clues about how plants evolved and adapted over time.

The Cerrado’s Secret Carbon Stores at Risk
Newly revealed peatlands in the Cerrado hold millennia of carbon, but shifting water and climate regimes could turn them from allies into threats.

Pedro F. Cruz-Júnior: Finding Life After Fire and Drought
Botany One interviews Pedro Firme da Cruz-Júnior, a PhD student who aims to understand how smoke and water stress shape seed germination and early plant development in one of the world’s most diverse savannas.

The Jungle’s Heaviest Courier Service: The Case of Tent-Roosting Bats
Tent-roosting bats are the unsung "nocturnal gardeners" of the Lacandon Rainforest. New research reveals they disperse up to 79.8 million large seeds annually, carrying fruits weighing up to 250% of their own body mass to help regenerate mature forests.

Rat Tales from the Attic Floor
18th century rodent cache tells rich botanical history.

This week the Sudoku Garden notes World Naked Gardening Day. The Plant Hunt visits returns to Australia, but this time visits New South Wales. This week's Plant of the Week is Amorphophallus titanum. We also debuted Science Shared as our Saturday afternoon post.

There was also last weeks's Week in Botany, with dire warnings of stress to food supply, reports of a plummet in orchid pollination, a bit of hope with an expanded Careers section, and more.

In AoBC Publications

News & Views

Botany 2026
Registration is now open for Biodiversity at the Boundaries at Tucson. You can also buy your merch, so you look good while you're there.
xcdsystem.com

Peter Raven, botanist and advocate for biodiversity, has died, aged 89
Peter Raven was one of the most influential botanists of the 20th century, helping to shape modern understanding of biodiversity and coevolution.
news.mongabay.com

Hotspots on Cold Mountains: Hot Flowers as Pollinator Refuges in Mountain Ecosystems
Warmer flowers in alpine and subalpine environments act as thermal refuges, increasing insect activity, particularly for flies, in cold conditions.
fesummaries.wordpress.com

Long-term climate warming is causing an important Arctic lichen to bleach
Climate warming disrupts symbiosis, as seen in coral bleaching. A study on Svalbard found that warming caused Arctic lichens to bleach, with the algal partner showing greater sensitivity to warmer temperatures.
fesummaries.wordpress.com

Join No Mow May
No Mow May is Plantlife’s annual campaign urging everyone to pack away the lawnmower, let wildflowers grow freely and help nature. Whether you’re in a city, town or the countryside, it’s super easy to take part.
plantlife.org.uk

NAS honours Professor Uta Paszkowski at official signing ceremony
Congratulations to Professor Uta Paszkowski whose election to the US National Academy of Sciences (NAS) was formally recognised at the NAS signing ceremony on 24 April 2026, marking her official induction as an International Member of one of the world’s most prestigious scientific institutions.
plantsci.cam.ac.uk

Remembering Dr. Peter H. Raven
Dr. Peter Hamilton Raven, a botanist of global stature who transformed the Missouri Botanical Garden into one of the world’s leading centers for botany and became one of the most influential voices for biodiversity and conservation, passed away on April 25, 2026. He was 89 years old.
missouribotanicalgarden.org

A helper NLR challenges the membrane localisation dogma
A new study shows that NRG1, a helper NLR, can bind to chloroplasts to trigger plant immunity responses, challenging the prevailing view that resistosomes function only at the plasma membrane.
medium.com

The Quest to Reacquaint Japan With Its Forgotten Native Citrus
Once revered by royals and celebrated by poets, the tachibana is now endangered.
atlasobscura.com

Moss Produces Human Collagen for Skincare
Unlike bacteria or yeast, moss can produce large polypeptides of human collagen along with the post-translational modifications that make it stable and bioactive.
the-scientist.com

Science Shared

The three botany papers shared most on Bluesky this week are:

  1. A molecular perspective on the taxonomy and journey of Citrus domestication 💰
    Kalita, B. et al. · Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics
  2. Genome degradation in plant tissue culture 🆓
    Davis, M. W. et al. · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  3. The FERONIA receptor kinase is required for high humidity responses in Arabidopsis 🆓
    Opachaloemphan, C. et al. · bioRxiv

You can see the full top 20 with more details, as well as what people have been saying about them, at Science Shared: May 2.

Careers on Bluesky

Please note these are not jobs I am offering. Nor can I help you with any visa requirements. A new page, listing more opportunities, is on my to-do list for this week.

Integrated strategies for the conservation of native germplasm to create biodiversity gardens and restoring habitats as part of the REGARD project. - Catania
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/433101

The REGARD project aims to restore natural capital within Natura 2000 sites

International Fully Funded PhD Positions in the Life Sciences in Switzerland - Zurich
academicpositions.com/ad/life-scie...

We aim to attract to Zurich the most promising young scientists from across the world.

Research assignment holders - Arboriculture and forest systems (Prof. Zanotelli, Damiano - pos. 1) - FREE UNIVERSITY OF BOZEN - BOLZANO
academicpositions.com/ad/free-univ...

Regenerative practices and smart irrigation for sustainable soil-water management in mountain areas (RAISE)

Research assignment holders - Arboriculture and forest systems (Prof. Zanotelli, Damiano - pos. 2) - FREE UNIVERSITY OF BOZEN - BOLZANO
academicpositions.com/ad/free-univ...

Regenerative practices and smart irrigation for sustainable soil-water management in mountain areas (RAISE)

PhD position: Thermal Imaging & Crop Canopy Transpiration - Wageningen
www.wur.nl/en/vacancy/p...

You will work with advanced camera systems, microclimate sensor arrays and crop canopy models to quantify how environmental variability affects canopy transpiration and stomatal behaviour.

Archives Graduate Trainee - Kew
careers.kew.org/vacancy/arch...

The Archives Graduate Trainee will be key in helping to manage the archival and modern records collections and provide access to them.

Library Graduate Trainee - Kew
careers.kew.org/vacancy/libr...

The Library Graduate Traineeship provides the library management and cataloguing experience needed by graduates embarking on a professional librarianship qualification.

Postdoctoral Research Associate - Ecology of the Mycorrhizal Holobiont - Kew
careers.kew.org/vacancy/post...

The Mycorrhizal Ecology group seeks applicants for a 2.75 year Postdoctoral Research Associate (PDRA) on the Ecology of the Mycorrhizal Holobiont.

Research Laboratory Phenotyping and Horticulture Technician (Fixed Term) - University of Cambridge
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRJ440/r...

Applications are invited for a Research Laboratory Technician, focusing on the phenotypic characterisation of rice and maize material.

Head of School - University of Reading - School of Biological Sciences
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRJ781/h...

The academic appointment will be permanent, with the Head of School role offered on a fixed‑term basis of six years in the first instance.

Research Assistant / Research Associate (Fixed Term) - University of Cambridge
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRI764/r...

The DPS is seeking to appoint a Post-Doctoral Research Associate to join a project on reprogramming plants.

Community Woodlands Officer - Forest of Mercia
environmentjob.co.uk/jobs/110097-...

You must have experience in forestry, tree planting or a related field, strong communication and project management skills, and knowledge of GIS systems.

Scientific Assistant Small Fruit Breeding - Washington State University
www.higheredjobs.com/faculty/deta...

You will apply your skills in experimental design, plant sciences, laboratory procedures, greenhouse culture, and planning.

Tenure-Track Faculty Position in Plant Biology - Penn State
www.higheredjobs.com/faculty/deta...

The search is open to any area of plant biology, an area of strength in our department and across Penn State.

Postdoctoral Associate (Huang Lab)
www.higheredjobs.com/faculty/deta...

The Huang Lab uses both experimental and computational genomics approaches to study gene regulation at the systems level.

Botanical Horticulturist - Kew
careers.kew.org/vacancy/bota...

This role, working in the Jodrell Glasshouse as part of the Plant Health and Quarantine team, involves growing high standard plant material for display, conservation purposes and scientific research.

PhD: Interactions of Plant Diversity and Climate on Ecosystem Phenology and Resilience - University of Technology Sydney
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

This project will investigate how climate & plant diversity influence vegetation phenology & ecosystem resilience across Australia.

PhD Transparent 3D-printed soil: biophysics and metabolomics of root-soil interactions - Imperial College
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

This project develops transparent, 3D-printed hydrogel substrates that replicate soil pore architecture, enabling direct imaging of root systems.

Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Sorghum Genetics - University of Queensland
uniroles.com.au/display-job/...

This role contributes to research that addresses critical challenges in grain crop productivity and drought resilience.

Researcher - Free University of Bozen - Bolzano
academicpositions.com/ad/free-univ...

The researcher conducts vegetation relevés and botanical studies in selected ecosystems in the field, combining data collection on the ground with remote sensing and modelling.

Postdoctoral scientist (f/m/d) in the field of Root Developmental Biology - IPK Gatersleben
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/432408

We aim to use high-throughput phenotyping to create knowledge about plant function and use forward genetics approaches to understand root traits.

PhD position: Vision-Language Models for Biodiversity & Environmental Monitoring - Wageningen University
www.wur.nl/en/vacancy/p...

Your models will be used for monitoring the phenology, health and resilience to climate change of forests and crops.

PhD position: Chlorophyll Fluorescence Imaging & Canopy Photosynthesis - Wageningen University
www.wur.nl/en/vacancy/p...

You will help shape the future of plant‑centred climate control by developing approaches to monitor and interpret canopy‑level photosynthesis.

Research Associate, Plant Energy Biology - University of Western Australia
uniroles.com.au/display-job/...

You will contribute to innovative research aimed at engineering and characterising synthetic chromosomes for plants.

Botany and Vegetation Science with focus on Mountain Ecology - Università di Bolzano
euraxess.ec.europa.eu/jobs/431941

This tenure-track position offers a pathway toward a permanent research role and the opportunity to develop an own academic profile.

PhD: BARIToNE: Data-Driven Crop Breeding for Climate-Resilient Barley - University of Dundee
www.findaphd.com/phds/project...

You will work with real barley data to understand how genetic relationships, historical selection, and environmental context shape breeding outcomes.

Postdoctoral position – Co-evaluating bio-inputs for Smallholder Farmers in Kenya - ETH ZÜRICH
academicpositions.com/ad/eth-zuric...

This project is aimed at compiling local farmer knowledge on agroecological practices, emphasizing locally produced bioinputs to increase productivity.

AGBS - Postdoc in Seaweeds Valorization - Mohammed VI Polytechnic University
academicpositions.com/ad/mohammed-...

The position focuses on developing innovative and sustainable strategies for converting seaweeds biomass into valuable bio-based products.

PhD Position: The Cellular Basis of Plant Regeneration - Radboud University
academicpositions.com/ad/radboud-u...

In this project, you will use tomato as a main model species, supplemented with work in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Research Assistant / Research Associate (Fixed Term) - University of Cambridge
www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DRI736/r...

The appointee will work under the project led by PI Adam Pellegrini on understanding how fire and grazing impact ecosystem carbon and nutrient cycling.

Wetland Wildflowers Coordinator - WWT Slimbridge
environmentjob.co.uk/jobs/109943-...

We’re looking for someone who can nurture plants from seeds to plugs and wants to play a hands-on role in restoring vital wetland habitats, whilst having the ability to inspire others.

Cover image: Cruz-Júnior taking pictures during fieldwork. Photo by Desiree Ramos.