Become a botanist at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney

National Science Week is a celebration of science throughout Australia. It’s an opportunity to join together, visit your local science institution to enjoy and explore the wonders of science. Discover the fascinating world of plant science and what is happening at your local Botanic Garden here.

The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney will be running its inaugural science week event, Living Laboratory Science Festival, on Saturday 11 August 2018. Our Gardens are a real life living lab, home to some of the world’s most valuable plant specimens and scientists who are solving some of humanities most vital science.

Many people don’t realise that there are many scientific labs in areas around the Gardens. For Living Laboratory, we will be opening the doors to some behind-the-scenes views of the vital science our scientists do. Read on to hear all about our events and activities on offer, that are all, completely FREE.

Meet our plant scientists

The scientists will be leaving the labs and adventuring out into the garden, where they will be hosting multiple stalls in the Festival Grounds. Ask them all your burning questions about amazing algae, fun fungi, evolutionary ecology, or bring in some plants of your own to have them identified and see them underneath the microscope. Find out more here.

Explore our plant labs

The Royal Botanic Garden Sydney is home to the National Herbarium of NSW, which stores over 1.4 million plant specimens. Some of these specimens even date back to samples from Captain Cook’s voyage. Join the Manager of the Herbarium, Dr Shelley James, on a behind the scenes tour of our red box gallery, and see some of our most interest, amazing and rare specimens in the historical collection.

Join Dr Ed Liew on a tour of PlantClinic; our plant ‘hospital’ where Ed and his team work to study, diagnose and treat plant diseases that threaten our parks, gardens, farmlands, wilderness and food! Listen to a sneak peak of his work on our Branch Out podcast here.

Explore the Gardens

Discover everyone’s favourite part of the Gardens: the plants! We will be hosting free guided walks and opening up our tropical glasshouses for you to enjoy. It’s also the last chance to see the fantastic Pollination display at The Calyx before it closes on the 15 August.

Discover wildlife, art, volcanoes and so much more

We have lots of stalls in the Garden, including Australian Wildlife Displays, where you can pet a baby crocodile or pat a python, and a pop-up butterfly house! There will be food and beverage available so you can serious with your science on a full stomach. Our main stage will be filled with talks and demonstrations, all designed to leave you in awe.

Want more?

This isn’t all that is happening at the Gardens for National Science Week: discover the Gardens by night with wine and nibbles at Secret Science, help out your local wildlife by making a bee hotel or uncover the secrets of the universe at Astronomy night at The Calyx.

We have all this and more, find out what your local botanic garden is doing for science week here.