LCAB researchers place second in Botanical University Challenge
Three LCAB researchers enjoyed success at this year's Botanical University Challenge, facing down Reading and Kew Gardens but were ultimately bested by Cambridge.
The 28th August saw the grand-finale of the much-loved botanically-themed student quizzing competition: Botanical University Challenge (BUC). BUC was founded in 2015 to help counteract the decline in Botany degrees and the stubborn presence of plant blindness, where the Plant Kingdom overlooked in favour of animals, despite the important role that plants play in ecosystems and shaping human culture. BUC 2024 saw 28 teams of four from UK higher education institutes compete for first place in a series of gruelling plant themed quizzes, followed by a student botany festival to foster a rejuvenated community of botanically-minded people.
This year's University of York team, Take it or Leaf it, saw three LCAB researchers competing, Kian Hayles-Cotton (PhD) captaining the team, Alex Payne (PhD), Louisa Mamalis (PhD), alongside Charlay Wood (PhD, Biology) and Amelia Lyons (Undergraduate, Biology). The University of York performed strongly in the initial heats of the competition confidently winning all 3 of the first rounds and earning themselves a place in the semi-finals alongside Kew Gardens, and the Universities of Cambridge and Reading.
York performed well in the first three online rounds
This year's final was held at Queen’s College Oxford in front of a live audience of student teams with a sprinkling of botanical celebrities for good measure. York and Cambridge won each semi-final convincingly demonstrating a breadth of botanical knowledge covering everything from plant biochemistry, to botany in popular literature, to moss identification. A new addition this year of an intimidating “Only Connect” style category wall of latin names proved challenging and added a sense of jeopardy to the competition. Coming into the final the tension was palpable with both teams receiving increasingly difficult and obscure questions, including on some of the host cities botanical treasures: Oxford Ragwort and the botanical gardens substantial collection of Ant Plants. Coming into the last round Cambridge led by two points meaning that York had to complete the “Only Connect” wall to win the coveted Sid Thomas Trophy. Sadly the wall proved all too much with red herrings at every turn, meaning that York just missed out on the points necessary to take the title, resulting in a well-deserved Cambridge win.
The team enjoyed exclusive access to Oxford Botanic Gardens, the oldest Botanical Gardens in the UK
Following the competition team-members were able to enjoy the 2nd Annual Student Botany Festival hosted at Queen’s College Oxford and Oxford Botanic Gardens.The York team enjoyed a range of events including a keynote speech from Kew’s Director of Science - Professor Alex Antonelli, industry careers sessions and a botanical illustration workshop, amongst tours of Oxford Botanic Gardens and Harcourt Arboretum.
The York team attended a dinner with participants to celebrate the end of the competition
Overall the University of York Team did fantastically, placing the highest the University has ever come and posing a serious challenge to the eventual winners, Cambridge. A huge thanks from the University of York team goes to the organisers: Dr Jonathan Mitchely, Professor John Warren, Professor Paul Ashton and Dr Lauren Baker. All rounds of BUC 2024 can be watched via the BUC youtube.