The Institute of Biology of Ireland works to disseminate biology in many forms and to different levels of education in Ireland. As part of that remit, they present Institute of Biology of Ireland medals and Institute membership to those students who attained the highest marks in this year’s Leaving Certificate Honours Biology Examination. They also present certificates of commendation to their teachers and schools. Each year it is a lovely occasion of celebration for the students, their families, friends and schools. The ceremony will be held this coming Thursday evening in the Botanic Gardens. If members of the institute would like to attend the awards ceremony they will be held at 6:30 pm

Afterwards, and as part of that celebration, the Institute of Biology of Ireland is delighted to present a public lecture by Professor Jennifer McElwain, Head of Botany Department, Trinity College, Dublin. Professor McElwain’s lecture is entitled “The Evolution of the Earth’s atmosphere as revealed by the plant fossil record.”

She tells us that “human carbon use during the next century will lead to atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations (pCO₂) that have been unprecedented for the past 50-100+ million years according to fossil plant-based CO₂ estimates. The paleobotanical record of plants offers key insights into vegetation responses to past global change, including suitable analogs for Earth’s climatic future”.

Over the past 20 years, her research and teaching have focused on the development and use of palaeobotanical methods (proxies) that use fossil plants to reconstruct the evolution of Earth’s atmospheric composition and climate on multimillion-year timescales. Her research team use both fossil plants and modern experimentation to investigate how fluctuations in atmospheric composition and climate have influenced plant evolution and ecology throughout Earth history.

The lecture is open to the public so members, their friends and families and the general public are all welcome. It will be held this Thursday 29th November in the Lecture Theatre, National Botanic Gardens, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 at 8 pm. Please see the attached file for further details.

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