Interstices - The Hidden Histories of Women in Botany

Explore a 58-minute talk where photographer Gem Toes-Crichton reveals her visual research into the overlooked contributions of women in botanical history at Oxford University Herbaria. Discover how she collaborated with curators, scientists, artists, and illustrators to create a hand-bound artist's book featuring pressed plant specimens, cameraless prints, and herbarium ephemera—a tribute to plants, women, and early photographic pioneers. Learn about her research process, the creation of this unique book, and the innovative ways art and science can engage people with botanical history and photography. Gem, an Oxford-based photographer who teaches at Falmouth University, works at the intersection of art and science, focusing on plants, botanical illustration, and highlighting women's historical contributions to these fields. This presentation from the Linnean Society, an organization founded in 1788 that works to inform and inspire people about nature through collections, programs, and publications, illuminates the often forgotten or unacknowledged individual contributions of women in the field of botany.