Dr. Micheline Sheehy Skeffington

Title: “Ireland’s native flora – is it in crisis?”

Botanist Dr Micheline Sheehy Skeffington is the current President of the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (BSBI). She took early retirement from the Botany Department, NUI Galway, where she taught plant ecology for over 30 years. Her primary interests are in habitat conservation and her research has focused on wetland ecology, rare species conservation and, recently, Ireland’s Lusitanian flora. A prime interest is conservation through sustainable agricultural systems. The BSBI published its third Atlas of the Irish and British flora – Plant Atlas 2020 that aims to inform conservation organisations regarding the status of the Irish flora, over half of which has declined in the last two decades. Micheline was involved in recording the flora, but also in producing the Irish Summary Report of the Atlas, which serves as a basis for future work.