Announcement of a conference in March 2012 in London: Planet under Pressure. Organised by IGBP and others - focus on science and sustainable development to tie in to the Rio +20 Summit later in 2012.
A new plant science networking website has been launched for the UK.
The proposed Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has received initial approval from the UN General Assembly, according to the UK government in a announcement. No details and no obvious response elsewhere yet, but there appears to be discussion on reporting and governance arrangements.
Recent launch of a website that indexes content of individual letters to and from Sir Hans Sloane. /...
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I'd rather like to see the letters in digital form - does not appear to be part of the project, though.
Darwin correspondence is well known, and digitised online - now we need to look forward to Wallace!
I recently saw the letter the other day that Wallace wrote on his voyage home from Brazil - sent to Richard Spruce in Para. His ship sank on the voyage, with the loss of the specimens collected, and Wallace and the crew spent some time in lifeboats before rescue - the letter deals with the rest of the voyage, which sounds rough, with constant use of the pumps. One of the final parts of the letter describes landing at Deal, with subsequent consumption of damson tart: clearly welcome after ship's food. Part of the letter is imaged on the NHM website, but not really legible.
