Kamila Kwasniewska

This summer, two members of our lab attended the Cells to Ecosystems Summer School at Haverford Campus in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. This programme offered participants in-depth training in trait-based palaeobotany and highlighted how plants can be used as tools to understand Earth systems and vegetation in Earth’s history. The course covered methods like field-based plant physiology measurements, fossil collection and analyses, as well as computational modelling.

Dr William J. Matthaeus participated as co-investigator and co-organiser of the programme, alongside Jonathan P. Wilson (who generously hosted the event at Haverford College), Joseph D. White (Baylor University), and Principal Investigator Daniel J. Peppe (Baylor University). Dr Miriam Slodownik participated as an attendee alongside six further selected students.

The diverse 10-day programme spanned lectures, practical sessions, and field trips. Highlights included fossil plant collecting in Centralia, a tour deep underground (and deep in time) in a historic coal mine (https://www.pioneertunnel.com/) which exposed Carboniferous coals, and a visit to Longwood Gardens (https://longwoodgardens.org/). The summer school was an excellent learning and networking experience and a great success for all organisers and attendees.

This course is supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

We are delighted to share that Jennifer McElwain, recently appeared on BBC Radio 4’s renowned programme In Our Time.

In the episode, The Evolution of Trees, Professor McElwain joined host Misha Glenny alongside Christopher Berry (Cardiff University) and Bill Baker (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew) to explore one of the most important innovations in Earth’s history — the evolution of trees.

The discussion examined how the first trees emerged over 400 million years ago and went on to transform the planet by creating new ecosystems, altering the atmosphere, and shaping the landscapes we know today. The programme also explored how tree-like growth forms have evolved multiple times throughout plant history, highlighting the remarkable adaptability of plants.

In Our Time is one of the BBC’s longest-running and most respected radio programmes, bringing together leading experts from around the world to discuss major topics in science, history, culture, and philosophy. We are incredibly proud to see Professor McElwain sharing her expertise with such a broad international audience.

BBC Radio 4 – In Our Time: The Evolution of Trees (4 June 2026)

We are delighted to share that Dr Ailbhe Brazel has recently been awarded a prestigious Research Ireland Pathway Programme grant to investigate low oxygen sensing and responses in plants, with the aim of developing greater climate resilience in crops.

The Research Ireland Pathway Programme is a highly competitive national funding scheme designed to support outstanding early-career researchers in establishing themselves as independent research leaders. With an overall success rate of around 20%, the award represents a major achievement and supports researchers in building their own research programmes, including the supervision of postgraduate students.

Ailbhe has been working as a Teaching Fellow on the TERRAFORM Project since August 2024 and will now move on to develop her own independent research programme as a Research Assistant Professor in the Botany Discipline at Trinity College Dublin.

As part of the programme, Ailbhe is currently recruiting for a 3-month Research Assistant position and a funded 4- year PhD student to join the project.

Huge congratulations to Ailbhe on this fantastic achievement – we are excited to see this research programme grow and develop.

On April 30th and May 1st, the annual Botany–Zoology Postgraduate Research Symposium 2026 took place at Trinity College Dublin, bringing together postgraduate researchers from across the School of Natural Sciences to share research spanning ecology, social science, zoology, and botany.

On the second day of the symposium, Dr Sate Ahmad delivered the keynote presentation on ecological restoration – the process of assisting the recovery of native ecosystems that have been degraded, damaged, or destroyed. The talk highlighted both the scientific and practical importance of restoration in responding to biodiversity loss and environmental change.

Plant Climate Lab postgraduate researcher Siddiq Muhammad also presented a 10-minute talk on the PlantChem Project: Investigating the Shift in Plant Chemistry Due to Climate Change – A Multidisciplinary Approach.

The presentation explored how rising atmospheric CO₂ and climate change may be altering the elemental composition of plants themselves — the fundamental “building blocks” of plant life. Using the same plant species collected from the same sites across 24 locations and seven major biomes, the study compared historic samples (1989–1991) with modern collections (2013–2015).

The findings revealed striking shifts in plant “elementomes”, with elemental composition changes ranging from 3% to as high as 61% over just a few decades. The greatest changes were observed in subtropical deserts, temperate rainforests, and dry tropical seasonal forests, highlighting how environmental change is physically restructuring plant chemistry on a global scale. These hidden shifts may have major implications for ecosystem functioning, herbivore nutrition, and global nutrient cycling.

The talk was followed by a lively Q&A session and received excellent feedback from the symposium organisers.

It was wonderful to see such a diverse and inspiring range of postgraduate presentations throughout the symposium, and a pleasure to reconnect with colleagues and friends across the School.

On 6 March 2026, the Plant Climate Lab hosted a Witness Tree Walk & Talk at the Trinity College Botanic Garden for artists from The Black Church Print Studio. The event brought together art and science through a shared exploration of trees as living witnesses to environmental change.

The afternoon began with an introduction to the Witness Tree project, outlining its scientific and cultural significance. Participants were then divided into four groups, each led by a member of our team – Prof. Jennifer McElwain, Michelle Murray, Leticia Candido, and Richard Slevin. As they moved through the garden, the artists were introduced to a range of witness tree species, learning about their ecological histories and the stories they hold within their growth.

Following the walk, the group gathered for coffee and conversation. This informal session provided an opportunity to examine plant specimens and leaf microphotography, as well as engage in a lively Q&A and discussion around themes of climate change, memory, and representation. These exchanges created a space for dialogue between scientific research and artistic practice.

The participating artists will now develop a series of print works inspired by their interpretations of the Witness Tree project, extending the conversation beyond the garden and into new creative forms.

This event highlighted the value of interdisciplinary collaboration, fostering fresh perspectives on environmental change and deepening public engagement with plant science.

Members of the Plant Climate Lab attended and contributed to the 69th Annual Meeting of the Palaeontological Association, held in Portsmouth, UK, from 11–15 December 2025. The meeting brought together researchers from across the palaeontological community and featured a strong presence from our lab across the scientific programme.

Prof. Jennifer McElwain delivered the Annual Address, Exploring Earth’s dynamic atmospheres and ecosystems, highlighting how fossil plant proxies and palaeo-functional traits provide critical insights into long-term Earth system change. Dr Miriam Slodownik presented her research on the Austral Antarctic forest during the Early Eocene Climatic Optimum, contributing to discussions on polar ecosystems and climate sensitivity in deep time.

We are also delighted to congratulate Miriam on her election as Early Career Research Officer for the Palaeontological Association. With multiple members of the Plant Climate Lab participating in talks, sessions, and events across the meeting, PalAss 2025 was an excellent opportunity to showcase our research and engage with the wider palaeontological community.

I’ve just returned from an inspiring trip to eastern Australia, where I combined conference travel with exploring some of the country’s most remarkable forests. As someone who studies ancient plant ecosystems, visiting modern rainforests offers an important perspective to picture the long-vanished ecosystems of our past. Walking through the dense, humid forests of north-eastern Australia, filled with bunyas, cedars, figs and vines, gave me a fleeting sense of what Australia’s Antarctic rainforests may have felt like 53 million years ago and let me reflect on a key question at the centre of my MSCA project POLARIS.: what made polar rainforests so different under extreme seasonality and unusual light conditions near the south pole.

The conference itself, the Australasian Systematic Botany Society meeting, was another memorable part of the trip. This year featured a large palaeo-session and the first time our small palaeobotany chapter met formally as part of the society. This felt like a new beginning: a moment of recognition for our discipline and an opening of doors for new collaborations between botanists and palaeobotanists. I presented both my PhD research on Australian fossil floras and the Witness Tree Project, and it was wonderful to see strong interest from researchers across fields. The conference excursion to Dorrigo National Park, a vast and lush rainforest, gave me a chance to learn more about rainforest plants as we walked and learned from one another in the field.

My trip concluded at the Queensland Herbarium, where I met with researchers, gave a seminar, and had the chance to see the impressive collections of Australian and International plants. The identification room, with a reference specimen sorted by families, was particularly useful for identifying species. It was the perfect end to my adventure-filled with fossils, forests, and an amazing community of researchers.

by Miriam Slodownik