'What is it about the internet – it's just a tool, isn't it?' asked a sceptical journalist to British singer David Bowie in 1999. Until then, the purpose of the internet was viewed by nearly everyone simply as a means to send electronic messages between people. 'No it's not,' Bowie replied. 'It's an alien life form. It's just landed here. The potential of what the internet is going to do to society, both good and bad, is unimaginable.'
The New Phytologist Foundation is pleased to present 'Harnessing the benefits of specimen digitisation', a Joint Special Collection of papers published in New Phytologist and Plants, People, Planet.
In this Collection, including over 50 contributions from scientists in 38 countries, we explore the various ways in which digitised specimens – their images and associated data – are changing the way we study plants and fungi. The papers published in the Collection form the basis for the 2026 State of the World's Plants and Fungi report, 'The Digital Biodiversity Revolution', published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.
We hope you share our excitement in reading about the variety of ways in which scientists have been harnessing the vast amounts of information released by the tremendous efforts of specimen digitisation to date. But we are even more excited about what lies ahead.
Guest edited by Alexandre Antonelli, Charles Davis, Isabel Larridon, Damon P. Little, Rhian J. Smith and Stephen A. Smith.
State of the World's Plants and Fungi Symposium 2026
The New Phytologist Foundation is proud to sponsor the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew's State of the World's Plants and Fungi Symposium once again. The Symposium takes place in London from 29 June to 1 July. Registration has closed, but it is possible to join online.
New Phytologist Peer Review Manager Fiona Tooke and Plants, People, Planet Managing Editor Bennett Young will attend the Symposium – stop by to chat with them about all things New Phytologist and Plants, People, Planet at the New Phytologist Foundation booth!
The New Phytologist Foundation supports symposia, conferences, meetings and other initiatives that further innovation and advancement in plant-focused research around the world.
Cover photo by Jim Judkis, courtesy of Carnegie magazine: archives and specimens from the fateful Lady Franklin Bay Expedition (1881-1884) residing in the Carnegie Museum herbarium, Pittsburgh, USA. It was once assumed the only specimens remaining from the expedition resided at Carnegie Museum, but recent global digitization efforts revealed many dozens of specimens exist across collections around the world.