Latest news with #MatthewJeffery
The Guardian
4 hours ago
- The Guardian
‘Best job in the natural world': seed collector enlisted as modern-day Darwin to document the world's plants
It was described as 'the best job in the natural world': an expedition botanist for Cambridge University Botanic Garden who would follow in the footsteps of Charles Darwin and go on plant-collecting adventures around the world. Within days of the job advertisement going viral, six people had sent it to Matthew Jeffery and suggested he apply. 'I was already working as a tree seed collector for the Millennium Seed Bank at Kew Gardens, collecting native trees from across the UK, and I'd done a lot of European plant exploring – particularly of alpine plants – on holidays with friends,' says Jeffery, 31, who has degrees in biology and plant taxonomy and had worked in horticulture at Chelsea Physic Garden and Kew. After realising he had the right skills for the unique role, which involves organising and leading international expeditions to collect and observe wild plants and seeds, he decided to apply. 'Every job I've done has been a dream job for me – I've been very lucky – but this job has an incredible potential to work in diverse places and with diverse plants,' he says. 'It was too good an opportunity to pass up.' Jeffery was appointed in March: it is believed to be the first time a British botanic garden has hired an expedition botanist in modern history. 'It's very daunting,' he says – but also inspiring. 'I learn a lot more from talking to people from different places about local plants and their uses than I could ever learn from reading about them in a book. Different cultural viewpoints and histories can also completely change how you perceive something, and add value and insight, so when you come back to the UK, you have a totally different outlook on how you would grow these plants, treat them or even think about them.' Like Darwin, he is excited about exploring the world and hopes to make discoveries with the help of the expert botanists he will encounter. 'It would be really cool to find a new species,' he says. 'Obviously, the people from the country we're working in would be best placed to find that, but just to be there when it happens.' In preparation for his first trip, Jeffery was given advanced wilderness medical training on how to survive and deliver first aid in a remote environment. 'Most of the risks and dangers of the expeditions are the same as they would be in the UK, because there are very few places left in the world that are really extreme and remote – but I might be going to some of those places,' he says. Jeffery recently returned from his first expedition to Croatia where he and his colleague, Andrea Topalovic Arthan, worked with botanists from the University of Zagreb to collect seeds and record data about plants in wet grasslands. 'This is a habitat under threat because of land use change and increasing drought levels,' he says. Seeds they brought home included Eriophorum latifolium, a cottongrass that is rare in Croatia but grows well in the UK. On Plješevica mountain, they also collected data about populations of alpine and subalpine plants, including high-altitude saxifraga and bellflowers known as Edraianthus, taking samples to press and dry for the herbarium in Cambridge. Working alongside local botanists on such expeditions means seeds and knowledge are shared across international borders, helping to ensure rare and threatened plant populations can be protected and boosted in a plant's country of origin, as well as in Cambridge, Jeffery says. After an expedition to South Africa this summer, he is planning to collect more wild seeds from Croatia in September. These will be brought home to Cambridge to diversify the botanic garden's living collection and aid scientific research and conservation. 'What's so interesting about Croatia is the environmental gradient across the country: the coast has a dry Mediterranean climate and as you go inland it becomes much more temperate and continental European,' he says. At the border between the two climates, plants that like cooler, wetter conditions grow next to Mediterranean plants that prefer dry heat. 'And the species overlap quite considerably – so the plants growing at those borders potentially have the capacity to deal with both climates to some degree. They are more adaptable than usual, one way or the other.' Within the space of a few metres, the habitat and species composition of the plants change completely. 'That shows they are very adapted to their specific niche. But it also shows how under threat they could be – how easily you could lose that whole population if the environment changes slightly.' It was while he was in the isolated grasslands with his Croatian colleagues, observing the plants, that the unique set of challenges an expedition botanist must face hit home for the first time. 'There was a mother bear with her cub in the area and we were warned she was very aggressive.' Their only means of defence, he says, was to make as much noise as possible 'so the bear would be aware we were there' and avoid them. As the light started to fade, Jeffery's Croatian colleague Katarina Husnjak Malovec came up with a novel solution: loudly playing a mixture of Croatian music and 80s and 90s hits from her phone. 'We now have a bear deterrent soundtrack,' he says. Find more age of extinction coverage here, and follow the biodiversity reporters Phoebe Weston and Patrick Greenfield in the Guardian app for more nature coverage
Time of India
16-06-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
Married? You just lost 40 points; How Canada's immigration system is rewarding singles and punishing families
Canada 's immigration system, which was long praised for its meritocratic and transparent points-based approach, is now drawing criticism for unintentionally putting married applicants at a disadvantage. The Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS) used to evaluate skilled worker candidates under Express Entry awards significantly more points to those who are single, or who declare their spouse as "non-accompanying." Under the CRS, a candidate without an accompanying spouse can gain up to 40 extra points out of a possible 600. These points can make or break a candidate's success in receiving an Invitation to Apply (ITA) for permanent residency. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track default , selected Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Villa For Sale in Dubai Might Surprise You Villas in Dubai | Search ads Learn More Undo With immigration targets tightening and the minimum cutoff scores rising, most recently reaching 529 points on June 12, 2025, this loophole is becoming increasingly consequential. Immigration lawyer Matthew Jeffery explains that the system only favors married applicants when their spouse is highly educated, fluent in English or French, and has relevant work experience. 'If the spouse does not have these things, it can result in a lower score for the primary applicant,' he says. Live Events Declaring spouse as non-accompanying To preserve their chances, applicants may legally declare their spouse as non-accompanying, essentially postponing their spouse's immigration and allowing the principal applicant to retain a higher score. 'This is not manipulation,' says Calgary-based immigration consultant Mandeep Lidher. 'It is a lawful and system-sanctioned pathway for applicants who may otherwise be disadvantaged by their spouse's limited language scores, education, or lack of Canadian work experience.' Procedural fairness letters Ottawa is aware of the practice and has begun issuing procedural fairness letters (PFLs) to applicants suspected of using the rule deceptively. In one letter, an immigration officer expressed 'serious concerns' over a married applicant declaring their spouse as non-accompanying, despite both individuals already living in Canada. 'It appears that you have decided to include your spouse as 'non-accompanying' to meet the minimum required score,' the officer wrote, adding that the applicant would not have qualified if the spouse had been listed as accompanying. Misrepresentation can lead to refusal and ban While it is legal to declare a spouse as non-accompanying if done transparently, experts warn that misrepresentation, such as hiding marital status or falsely claiming a spouse will remain abroad, can lead to application refusal and even a five-year ban from reapplying. 'Honesty is paramount,' Toronto-based immigration consultant Kubeir Kamal told CTV News . The Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) emphasized its zero-tolerance stance on misrepresentation: 'If a spouse is declared as not accompanying while the intent is for the spouse to come with the principal applicant, an officer may find that the applicant misrepresented themselves.' Canada prepares to lower its annual immigration targets, dropping from 500,000 in 2024 to 395,000 in 2025, and further still in 2026 and 2027, but the margin for error has narrowed.
CTV News
15-06-2025
- Politics
- CTV News
Points-based immigration system favours single PR applicants over married couples, experts say
Canada's points-based immigration system can give a slight boost to applicants who are single. To get an edge, some married permanent residency candidates are saying their spouse won't accompany them to score as many as 40 extra points out of a possible 600. Immigration lawyer Matthew Jeffery says the points system only benefits married applicants if their spouse is well-educated, proficient in English or French, and has the right work experience. 'However, if the spouse does not have these things, it can result in a lower score for the primary applicant,' Jeffery said. 'To avoid losing points as a result of a poorly qualified spouse, an applicant can list their spouse as non-accompanying. This means that they will not immigrate to Canada at the same time as the primary applicant, but will remain in the home country.' Calgary-based immigration consultant Mandeep Lidher describes the practice as fairly common. He says married applicants face a 'systemic disadvantage' under the current points system for skilled workers. 'This structural imbalance incentivizes the lawful use of the non-accompanying spouse option,' Lidher told 'This is a lawful and system-sanctioned pathway for applicants who may otherwise be disadvantaged by their spouse's limited language scores, education, or lack of Canadian work experience.' Instead of applying at the same time, it can therefore be beneficial for only one person to apply for permanent residency, then sponsor their spouse to accompany them later through family reunification channels. 'No, this is not manipulation,' Lidher explained. 'An applicant only breaches the law if they engage in misrepresentation … that is, by withholding their marital status or falsely declaring a spouse as non-accompanying, when they actually intend to immigrate together.' 'To game the system' Ottawa is aware of the practice and has warned some applicants about misrepresenting their situation. Lidher provided a copy of an April 2025 'procedural fairness letter' that was sent to a permanent residency applicant. In it, a Canadian immigration processing officer expressed 'serious concerns' over the married applicant declaring themselves unaccompanied, despite already living in Canada with their foreign spouse. 'It appears that you have decided to include your spouse as 'non-accompanying' to meet the minimum required score because you earn more points if you don't have a spouse or common-law partner or if they are not coming with you to Canada,' the officer wrote. 'It also appears you would not have met the minimum required score if your spouse was included in your application as an accompanying dependent.' Canada's points-based immigration system has become increasingly competitive, especially since Ottawa announced in October that it would reduce permanent residency targets by at least 20 per cent from 500,000 to 395,000 permanent residents in 2025, 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027. The minimum number of points needed to be able to apply for permanent residency has been edging upwards. While numbers can fluctuate, the lowest-ranked candidate on June 12 under the Canadian experience stream had a total of 529 points – that's up from the 368-point cutoff recorded four years earlier on June 10, 2021. When someone applies to be considered for permanent residency through the Express Entry online system for skilled workers, profiles are scored through what's known as the Comprehensive Ranking System (CRS), which awards points based on factors like age, education, work experience and language skills. 'Canada's Express Entry system is designed to select skilled immigrants who will thrive, but honesty is paramount,' Toronto-based immigration consultant Kubeir Kamal told 'Declaring a spouse as non-accompanying, if such circumstances exist, is a valid option if done transparently, but actually misrepresenting marital status to game the system risks severe consequences, including application refusal and bans.' In a statement to a spokesperson from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada said the department is committed to protecting against fraud and misrepresentation. 'Misrepresentation includes providing false information or withholding information,' the IRCC spokesperson said. 'If a spouse is declared as not accompanying while the intent is for the spouse to come with the principal applicant, an officer may find that the applicant misrepresented themselves to get more CRS points.'
