Welcoming Dr Camilo Uribe Botta as Teaching Fellow in Liberal Arts

We are very pleased to announce that Dr Camilo Uribe Botta has joined the Department of Liberal Arts at the University of Warwick as a Teaching Fellow.

Dr Uribe Botta is an environmental historian whose work is deeply interdisciplinary, bridging history, cultural studies, and the material world. He specialises in the role of plants — particularly orchids — as actors in global and colonial history. His doctoral research (completed at Warwick) focused on the nineteenth-century trade in tropical orchids between Colombia and the United Kingdom, exploring how these plants functioned simultaneously as botanical curiosities, scientific objects, and commodities whilst shaping British–Colombian relations.

Camilo’s academic journey is complemented by substantial museum and public engagement experience. Before moving to the UK, he worked for seven years with Colombian public museums (including the Museo Colonial and Museo Santa Clara), where he managed collections, oversaw renovations, and curated exhibits. He has also contributed to collaborative projects in museology, historical consultancy, and cultural programming — including roles with TV and theatrical productions.

In his new role at Warwick’s Liberal Arts programme, Dr Uribe Botta will teach and help develop modules that align with his research strengths in environmental and global history, material culture, and the intersections of nature and society. His approach — rooted in using “non-human actors,” archival methods, and cross-disciplinary inquiry — fits neatly within the ethos of Liberal Arts: to foster creative, critical, and connected ways of thinking.

Please join us in extending a warm welcome to Dr Camilo Uribe Botta. We look forward to the fresh perspectives he will bring to our students and the wider Warwick academic community.