Category Archives: Hands-on

84th Reading Beavers – Saving the environment!

On Friday evening we had the pleasure of hosting a keen and vibrant group of Beavers from the local 84th group along with their leaders and parent helpers.  While the emphasis was very much on look and experience the exciting … Continue reading

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A Multidimensional Greek Wedding

In March 2012 Kalman and Maria were helping prepare the tropical glasshouse for complete re-planting.  There was heavy digging to do while we mixed 4-5 tonnes of home produced compost for filling the glasshouse beds and some photography which involved … Continue reading

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Ranikhet Primary School – a rainforest experience

Today pupils from Ranikhet Primary School visited the Tropical Biodiversity Greenhouse (Part of Reading University Herbarium in the School of Biological Sciences) to see, smell, touch and draw plants that grow in the tropics, and particularly the tropical rainforest. Two … Continue reading

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1st Whiteknights Brownies

We hosted a visit from the 1st Whiteknights Brownies this evening in a very warm and humid tropical atmosphere.  Over an hour we toured the world of plants asking questions such as ‘What eats chilli peppers and why?’, ‘how do … Continue reading

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University librarians enjoy the Dew(e)y atmosphere

At 9am sharp today the tropical glasshouse was invaded by a hush of Librarians.  Led by the intrepid Helen Hathway (Head of Academic Liaison and Support) and guided by our biology subject specialist Tim Chapman more than 20 members of … Continue reading

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A visit from 71st Beavers

Monday afternoon was grey, cold and wet but the Reading 71st Beavers and their helpers braved the weather to walk to our tropical glasshouse.  Thick coats were soon shed and the children had a chance to look around and interact … Continue reading

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Welcome Richard Higgins, our latest BSc researcher in Tropical Biodiversity

A new round of BSc research projects have just started for 2014/15 academic year.  Richard Higgins will be working with Paul Hatcher and Alastair Culham on the monitoring and management of Mealy bug in the tropical glasshouse. 

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MERL Village Fete

The Museum of English Rural Life held its annual Village Fete  on Saturday 31st May. The Herbarium was represented in the form of a tropical food plants display showing some of the plants we grow in our tropical glasshouse. The … Continue reading

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Indicator species – early warning for pest attack

Any IPM plan should incorporate a monitoring scheme that allows the size of a pest population to be guaged, over time. By understanding the state of a population it’s then possible to make more informed decisions about whether to act … Continue reading

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Visitors from Talfourd Avenue go Tropical

On Saturday the 15th of March the Tropical Biodiversity Glasshouse project had the pleasure of hosting families from the Talfourd Avenue group. They kindly agreed to come test our new (and hopefully improved) glasshouse tour, which was designed and created … Continue reading

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