The University’s Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health is delighted to welcome back The Linnean Society for the 2022 Irene Manton lecture which will take place on 8 December.

This year’s lecture will be delivered by Rebecca Willis, Professor in Energy and Climate Governance. Her lecture entitled ‘Can Democracy Save us from Climate Change?’ will highlight how the only way to steer humanity through the climate change crises ahead is to restore and rebuild democracy by finding new ways to involve everyone in a collective effort to safeguard the planet that we all call home.

Now in its eighth year, this annual lecture aims to inspire and inform everyone in contemporary biology and botany; and the role that women scientists play. The event is free and open to everyone, with sixth form students particularly welcome.

The Linnean is the world’s oldest active biological society, founded in 1788, and the lecture is named after Irene Manton who was the first female president of the society, a British botanist who gained her PhD at The University of Manchester.

Previous speakers have included:

• Dr Kat Coyte, with her talk entitled: ‘Worlds within our Guts’ (blog article 2021; watch the recording)
• Eleanor Drinkwater, PhD student from the University of York with her talk entitled ‘Metamorphosis: a 300 year story of intrepid women, rainforests and butterflies’ (blog article 2020; watch the recording)
• Jan Bradley with her talk ‘From Man to Mouse’ (blog article 2019).
• Dr Sandra Knapp, President of the Linnean Society of London with her talk entitled ‘Fieldwork in fancy dress? A natural history of women in the field’ (blog article Linnean 2018),
• Dr Anna Gilchrist with her talk entitled ‘I’m a butterfly… get me out of here’ (blog article Linnean 2017),
• Professor Sheena Cruickshank with her talk entitled ‘On you, inside you: the amazing and horrible world of parasites’ (blog article Linnean 2016),

Event details

When: Thursday 8 December, 5:30-7pm

Venue: In person, Roscoe Building, The University of Manchester

Register via Eventbrite

Pre event information will be emailed to registered guests a few days before the event.