Speaker: Matthew Jeffrey
Matthew Jeffery is an Expedition Botanist at Cambridge University Botanic Garden, leading fieldwork and expeditions to collect plant material worldwide. He manages collaborations with partner institutions in Croatia, South Africa and Chile, and supports the development of living and herbarium collections. Matthew studied Biology at Imperial College and completed an MSc in Plant Taxonomy at Queen Mary University of London and Kew. He has also worked at the Millennium Seed Bank and Kew Gardens, combining expertise in ecology, conservation and horticulture.
Cambridge University has a long history of plant collecting in the wild, with one particularly famous alumnus attending a certain ‘Voyage of the Beagle’.
But how do you organise a plant hunting expedition in the modern era? Matthew will tell some stories from the field and describe how the Cambridge University Botanic Garden conducts fieldwork across temperate regions of the world.
Be prepared to explore the colourful fynbos of the Cape of Good Hope, the dense Southern beech forests of temperate Chile, the jagged limestone mountain peaks of Croatia and closer to home: the Fens of Cambridgeshire!
25 Nov 2026
2:15 pm
Hybrid: via Zoom, and U3AC, Pink room (pre-booking required)