Dr Camilo Uribe Botta
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Contact details |
| Email: c.uribe-botta@warwick.ac.uk |
| Room: R 3.34Link opens in a new window (Ramphal Building) |
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Office hours: Mondays 11:00am to 12:00pm and Thursdays 3:00pm to 4:00pm. |
Teaching Fellow in Liberal Arts
Qualifications
Historiador (BA in History). Universidad de los Andes. (Colombia)
Magíster en Historia (MA in History). Universidad de los Andes. (Colombia)
PhD in History. University of Warwick. (UK)
About
I am an environmental historian with a particular interest in the role of plants as actors in history from a global perspective. I am a historian of Colombia and Latin America, with a specific focus on the history of British-Colombian relations during the nineteenth century. With an environmental history approach, I aim to understand the role of nature and other natural actors, mainly plants (orchids) in history and their impact in society, politics and culture. As an enthusiastic orchid cultivator, I also understand the challenges of keeping a tropical plant alive in the British Isles. I am also passionate about public engagement, having worked in a Colombian public museum for seven years. I worked at two public institutions under the Ministry of Culture of Colombia—the Museo Colonial and the Museo Santa Clara—in various roles. Additionally, I worked as a historical consultant for theaters, archaeological sites, and TV series.
Research and Teaching Interests
I am interested in the exchange of natural products during the 19th century. I have worked on the trade of tropical orchids between Colombia and Britain from the 1840s to 1900. By analysing orchids through various layers of meaning—botanical curiosities, scientific objects, and commodities—I argue that these plants played a crucial role in British involvement in Colombia under the idea of "informal empire" during the nineteenth century. Furthermore, this trade revealed the active roles of many often overlooked actors: local indigenous and black populations, low-ranking diplomats, amateur scientists, gardeners, men and women on both sides of the Atlantic, mules, steamships, insects, and, of course, the orchids themselves. New research paths bring me to lesser known natural products such as vegetable ivory (also known as tagua or corozo).
Selected Publications
▪ Uribe Botta, Camilo. "Millones de plantas, manías vegetales: la transplantación de orquídeas en los siglos XIX y XX." Iberoromania. 2025.
▪ Uribe Botta, Camilo. “Libros de orquídeas en el siglo XIX. Entre la maravilla, la ciencia y el comercio.” Revista Cuadernos de Literatura. Vol 29. 2025.
▪ Uribe Botta, Camilo. “Colombia, orquídeas y el imperio (informal) británico. 1840-1900. Entre la deuda y la ciencia.” En Laurent, Muriel; Borda, Sandra; Jaramillo Mutis, Diego (eds.) El comportamiento internacional de Colombia en el siglo XIX. Interlocutores, actores y temáticas. Universidad de los Andes; Universidad Externado de Colombia. Bogotá D.C. 2024. Pp. 333-367. (book chapter)
Public outreach
▪ “New insights into the Colombian orchid trade”. The Orchid Review. 2024 Yearbook. October 2024. Pp 34-49
▪ “The commerce of Colombian orchids during the 19th century”. Orchid Society of Great Britain Journal. Volume 73. No3. October 2024. Pp 235-241.
▪ Anna Lawrence, Camilo Uribe Botta, and May Wang. “Watermelon: Stereotypes of Race and Class.” Plant Humanities Lab. Dumbarton Oaks, Plant Humanities Summer School, 2021. https://lab.plant-humanities.org/watermelon/ (article)
Public engagements
▪ Warwickshire Allotment and Horticultural Society. Warwick, UK
▪ Museo de Arte Miguel Urrutia. Banco de la República (Colombia Central Bank). Bogotá, Colombia
▪ Orchid Society of Great Britain. London, UK.
▪ Colombian General Consulate. London, UK