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Muigaia, new genus in Convolvulaceae
On 18 February 2026, Muigaia, a new genus in the Convolvulaceae, was published in Kew Bulletin. The genus proudly honours Prof. Dr. Anne W. Thairu Muigai, Professor of Genetics at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT, Juja, Kenya) and Deputy Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and Research at the National Defence University (Nakuru, Kenya). Anne also serves as the inspiring Chairperson of the African BioGenome Project, a visionary pan-African initiative aiming to characterise 100,000 African species within a decade.
Through the shared supervision of PhD student Paul Kagame, we have had the privilege of working closely with Anne. Her tireless dedication to advancing African science, her visionary leadership, and her generous mentorship of students and young scholars continue to inspire us deeply. We are especially proud that our scientific collaboration and friendship is now reflected in a genus of bindweeds and morning glories that bears her name.
Fittingly, and very much in Anne’s spirit of empowering the next generation, the first three authors of the publication are outstanding young scientists from Kenya: Simon Wachira Ngima (University of Nairobi), Vivian Kathambi (National Museums of Kenya and Ghent University), and Paul Kagame (JKUAT and Ghent University).
Paper: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12225-025-10366-w
Doctor Molmou
🎓 On Friday 23 January 2026, Denise Molmou successfully defended her PhD thesis on floristics and ethnobotany. Her outstanding work documents 399 useful plant species in her home country, Guinea, and analyses their distribution, uses, and potential threats. Her PhD project was a collaboration between the National Herbarium of Guinea, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Ghent University, and was funded by the Ellis Goodman Family Foundation, the Government of the Republic of Guinea, and Rio Tinto.
Recognised among the 100 Global Inspirational Women in Mining in 2024, Denise is an exceptional conservationist and a prolific scientist. Her thesis powerfully highlights the urgent need for community-based conservation action to address threats to Guinea’s remarkable plant diversity. We are confident that Denise will continue to bring tremendous energy, commitment, and leadership to this vital cause.
Herbarium digitization started
The start of the academic year, 22 September 2025, also marks a new chapter in the long life of the herbarium of the GUM - Gents Universiteitsmuseum & Plantentuin at Ghent University.
Thanks to funding from Interreg North-West Europe (NWE), we’ve begun digitizing our 300,000 plant specimens, preserving centuries of botanical knowledge for the digital age.
We’re thrilled to be part of DigiHerb, a project that’s opening up the treasures of three medium-sized European herbaria:
🌱 The National Botanic Gardens of Ireland (leading the project)
🌱 The Staatliches Museum für Naturkunde Karlsruhe, Germany
🌱 And ours, right here in Ghent!
🇪🇺 Together, we’re making history. It’s the first time in the EU that herbarium collections from multiple countries are being made available through a unified digital portal and data management system.
🤜🏼🤛🏼 Over the next seven months, our conveyor belt will be running non-stop, led by our freshly graduated biologists Berdien Daniels, Felix Heyman and Silas Art, supported by our amazing GUM volunteers, all under the supervision of Kenneth Bauters.
🎯 For us, unlocking the capsules that herbarium specimens are has long been a dream. We believe knowledge should be shared, and that digitization is one way to make it happen. It won’t erase the injustices rooted in colonial history surrounding herbarium collections, but it’s a step toward a more open and equitable future. In seven months, the origins of the material will be acknowledged, and the stories these specimens tell - about species, traits, habitats, and climates - will be freely accessible to anyone, anywhere in the world, through this site and GBIF: The Global Biodiversity Information Facility. 🌍
