Seaweeds - Cinderellas of the Sea

摘要

The last duty of the retiring YNU President is to give the Presidential Address. When I was asked to supply the title for my Presidential Address I suggested titles about the future of natural history societies in the UK and the challenges they face including an ageing demographic, or the contribution of amateur naturalists to scientific knowledge and research. Big topics. Important topics. However, these were immediately rejected and I was told that I was expected to give a talk about seaweed. I rarely hesitate to talk about this subject, in fact my husband says I can bore for England on it. I find this rather insulting - I have set my sights rather higher than a single country. So, a talk about seaweeds it had to be although I did slip in a couple of slides under the radar about natural history and the role of natural historians.