Just a short stay in Dublin (June, 2026). An absolute delight to finally meet @joannakacprzyk.bsky.social in person and thanks for the tour of plant growth/cell culture facilities at UCD. Research is a small world (plants especially) -- You never know who you'll meet via social media. ☘️🌾☕️🍺

Two PhD positions available to work with me on the GREEN CELL FACTORY (Advancing Plant Cell Biotechnology for Sustainable Production of High-Value Metabolites). Details below. Application deadlines are 7th June 2026 (PhD1_cell bio), 31st August (PhD2_bioinf)

We’re hiring a Postdoctoral Research Fellow to join the new Green Cell Factory project at UCD. This is a fantastic opportunity for someone interested in plant cell biology and biotechnology. Application deadline: 12:00 noon (local Irish time) on 2 June 2026. Link below…

The smell of lentisk/mastic (Pistacia lentiscus) in the forest during summers. Actually, as a child, I was not aware that it was specifically this plant that produced this perfume. Now, as a plant scientist, I got to study P. lentiscus, and its smell always brings me inmediate childhood memories 💚.

Motivation for plant-related career? I was fascinated first, then I discovered that I was good at the bench, and it all fell into place. The fact that plants feed the world has always added to my motivation, which is anyway rooted into my curiosity.

Motivation for plant-related career? I'm biologist and I always had i kind of inclination to life matters. The plant world was a serendipity in my way.

a painting of flowers and leaves in a jungle

ALT: a painting of flowers and leaves in a jungle

media.tenor.com

Motivation for plant-related career? I became fascinated by ecology and was inspired by my lecturers at University.

a plant in a pot with botanica.bar on the bottom

ALT: a plant in a pot with botanica.bar on the bottom

media.tenor.com

Any other thoughts on the topic (of becoming a botanist) you would like to share? 😔 Plants are the basis of every terrestrial ecosystem, including humans. We desperately need more people, training and jobs for them. I watch as plant departments around the world are closed down with despair

Today, given such a background, I would become something horrendously uninspiring – an estate agent or similar! It's all very well you asking about motivation (always a strength of mine), but it's pointless without you also considering opportunity (or lack thereof

So, in summary, I followed an 'education pathway' that was far from normal. Since then, such unusual routes have been closed off as financially untenable, and in any case, the cost of a full education today would have been way beyond the means of myself or my family.

Motivation for choosing botany-related education? My father left school at 14 and my (more intellectual) mother at 18, and I was born in a council house, so there was little expectation that I would explore tertiary education.

What a fantastic story...

Plant memories@plantmemories.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Motivation for choosing botany-related education? My father left school at 14 and my (more intellectual) mother at 18, and I was born in a council house, so there was little expectation that I would explore tertiary education.

Motivation for choosing a botany-related education pathway: "𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙄 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙣 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙪𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙡 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙟𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙨 (𝙗𝙪𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙗𝙖𝙧𝙞𝙪𝙢, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙨𝙥𝙝𝙖𝙜𝙣𝙪𝙢). 𝘼𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙠𝙣𝙚𝙬 𝙄 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙠 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧."

Friends, followers, plant lovers: what is your favourite plant-related memory or moment?

Can you share you favourite plant-related memory? "𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙢𝙚𝙡𝙡 𝙤𝙛 𝙘𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙚𝙙 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙨𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙚 𝙗𝙪𝙨𝙝𝙬𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙏𝙖𝙨𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙞𝙖."

Inspiring the next generation of plant scientists: What we learned from 421 plant biologists @joannakacprzyk.bsky.social and Rainer Melzer nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @plantmemories.bsky.social @ucdflowerpower.bsky.social #PlantScience

Brilliant 🫡

Plant memories@plantmemories.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Motivation for choosing botany-related education? My father left school at 14 and my (more intellectual) mother at 18, and I was born in a council house, so there was little expectation that I would explore tertiary education.

Motivation for choosing botany-related education: i love the outdoors. I loved nature. I became a botanist NOT because I didn't like dissection of animals (I don't mind at all), but because I really found plants and all their diversity personally impressive

Favourite plant memory: "𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙪𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙧 𝙫𝙖𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙮 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙪𝙣𝙩'𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙧. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙤 𝙩𝙧𝙚𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙖𝙘𝙠𝙮𝙖𝙧𝙙, 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙤𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙤𝙚𝙨."

Reason for a plant-related career: "𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙛 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙗𝙡𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙘𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚𝙨, 𝙬𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙫𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨, 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙢𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙛𝙛𝙮 𝙤𝙧 𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙤𝙤𝙡, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙."

Favourite plant memory: "𝙃𝙚𝙡𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮 𝙢𝙪𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙧𝙤𝙘𝙠𝙚𝙩 - 𝙄 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙚𝙭𝙘𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙙𝙨 𝙄 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙄 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙚𝙖𝙩."

Motivation for choosing a botany-related education pathway: 𝙐𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 𝙬𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣.

Why botany? "𝙈𝙮 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮 𝙗𝙤𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙚𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙨 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙖 𝙫𝙞𝙩𝙖𝙡 𝙧𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙚𝙘𝙤𝙨𝙮𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙣. 𝘼𝙜𝙧𝙞𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙥 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙙𝙪𝙘𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙘𝙩 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙖𝙣𝙨 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙪𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙮 𝙞𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙡𝙤𝙗𝙖𝙡 𝙞𝙨𝙨𝙪𝙚. 𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚, 𝙄 𝙘𝙝𝙤𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙮 𝙘𝙧𝙤𝙥 𝙨𝙘𝙞𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚."