Dr Madeline White

I am currently the postdoctoral research associate for the project Digital Global Plants - Reframing Collections and Reconstructing Science. I completed my DPhil in the History of Science and Medicine in 2024 (Lincoln College, Oxford). My doctoral research focused on the University of Oxford's du Bois Herbarium as an archive of early modern science and empire.

Prior to my doctorate, I received an MPhil in the History of Science, Medicine, and Technology (St Hugh's College, Oxford) and a BA in History and Physics (University of Southern California).

Research Interests

• History of science and medicine
• Global and imperial history
• Herbaria and botanical collections
• Early modern Britain

My research explores the ties of early modern science to the British empire, as well as the often overlooked intermediaries essential to their operation. Using the du Bois Herbarium, a collection of 14,000 dried plant specimens, as a starting point, my doctoral thesis explored the potential of this archive to create biographical, scientific, and colonial histories. This work will be expanded through the Digital Global Plants project, which aims to create an accessible and open-access digital reconstruction of the Herbarium, to be used for teaching and research in history, biology, and ecology.

Over 2024-25 I am also a Louise Ritchie & Dibner Fellow in the History of Science and Technology, at the Huntington Library (San Marino, CA), where I am beginning new research on the role of letter bearers in maintaining privacy and scientific priority in the early Royal Society.

You can follow me on Twitter @MadelineEWhite