Friends of Glasgow Botanic Gardens

Guest lecture: Discovering mammals in the time of dinosaurs with Dr Elsa Panciroli
2026-02-12 19:00 - 20:30 UTC | Kelvin Hall, 1445 Argyle St, Glasgow G3 8AW, Glasgow, G3 8AW
Join us on Thursday, 12 February at 7pm in Kelvin Hall for a guest lecture, Discovering mammals in the time of dinosaurs by Dr Elsa Panciroli.
Mammals, the furry, milk-giving group to which humans also belong, can trace their origins back to the Mesozoic. Fossils, from the Isle of Skye in Scotland in particular, are providing new insights, revealing how their evolution alongside the dinosaurs set the foundations of their survival and success after the mass extinction 66 million years ago. In this talk, we will find out about fieldwork in Skye uncovering exceptionally preserved fossils, and the new analytical techniques revealing how mammals lived, grew, and flourished in the Jurassic.
Dr Elsa Panciroli is a palaeobiologist from the Scottish Highlands who completed her undergraduate degree in Environmental Science at the University of the Highlands and Islands, her Masters in Palaeobiology at the University of Bristol, and her PhD joint between the University of Edinburgh and National Museums Scotland.

Guest lecture: The Pines they are A-Changing with Rob Wilson
2026-02-19 19:00 - 20:30
Join us at Kelvin Hall at 7pm on Thursday, 19 February 2026 for a guest lecture “The Pines they are a-changing” by Professor Rob Wilson of University of St Andrews.
Prof Wilson says:
“I am a tree-ring scientist – a so-called Dendrochronologist. My main research focusses on late Holocene palaeoclimatology (the Common Era) with specific emphasis on the use of tree-ring archives to understand the drivers of climate and environmental change. ”
