Research

Robert Scotland (University Reader in Systematic Botany)

My empirical systematic research interests have been on the family Acanthaceae with a major focus on the genus Strobilanthes. I am also interested in systematic theory and a range of issues in relation to biodiversity. Recently I have been concentrating on the role of morphological data for phylogeny reconstruction and  been examining broad scale patterns of biodiversity in relation to species discovery patterns and hollow curves of taxonomic diversity. I am also investigating the expression pattern of floral genes in relation to the homology of the daffodil corona.

Colin Hughes (Departmental lecturer)

My research focuses on taxonomic monography and phylogenetics. I am interested in species-level problems including species delimitation and classification, interspecific hybridization, geographical patterns of species diversification, and early domestication of crop plants. I work mainly on Neotropical legumes, with current projects on Leucaena, Lupinus and Mimosa.

Denis Filer (PDRA)

My interests focus on the development of computing applications for storing, processing and analyzing botanical data, optimizing curation processes,facilitating efficient checklist, flora and monograph production and supporting plant diversity research. I coordinate the BRAHMS Project.

William Hawthorne (PDRA)

After a PhD on the East African coastal forests, I worked for DFID, in Kumasi (Ghana), with the Ghana Forestry Department on plant ecology, identification and biodiversity assessment, producing field guides and a national strategy for forest conservation. Since 1992, I have worked part-time in the Department of Plant Sciences, mainly in West Africa, on forest regeneration after logging, field guides, biodiversity assessment and databases with a special interest in woody plants. I currently work on Darwin Initiative projects in Chile, Trinidad and Tobago, and on the Virtual Field Herbarium.

John Wood (Research associate)

I worked for British Council and Department for International Development in education projects in Somalia, Yemen, Colombia, Bhutan and Bolivia from 1971 to 2000. I collected plants in all these countries and have published extensively in floristics (e.g., Handbook of the Flora of Yemen, Flora of Bhutan) and taxonomic papers, principally in Acanthaceae and Labiatae. Since 2001, I have been a research associate in the Department of Plant Sciences working on Strobilanthes and with the Darwin Project on inter-Andean valleys of Bolivia.

Caroline Pannell (Research associate)

My research is in taxonomic revisions of tropical rain forest trees and investigations of the functional significance of morphological and phytochemical variation in fleshy fruits, particularly in Aglaia, the largest genus in the Meliaceae. Attempts to resolve the complex variation patterns in Aglaia have involved collaboration with molecular  systematists and phytochemists. Aglaia is the only known source of cyclopenta[b]benzofurans  which are being investigated for their anticancer and pesticide properties. My work provides the taxonomic base used in the search for such bioactive compounds.

Tiina Sarkinen (D.Phil. student)

My research focuses on understanding plant species diversification in the Neotropics in relation to two aspects of continental history, the formation of the Panama Isthmus and the uplift of the Andes. I am using the amphi-tropical papilionoid legume genus Amicia and its sister genera in the Adesmia clade as my study group and building a new phylogeny for this group. Through a meta-analysis of plant molecular phylogenies, I plan to explore the impacts of the formation of the Panama Isthmus ca. 3 million years ago on the diversification of the Neotropical flora. As part of this work I am revising the genus Amicia.

Herbaria

Stephen Harris (Curator of Oxford University Herbaria)

My research concentrates on the use of molecular markers in evolutionary and conservation biology and the evolutionary consequences of human-mediated plant movement. I am interested in hybridisation, polyploidy, gene flow, the history of botany and increasing access to information in herbaria.

Serena Marner (Fielding-Druce Herbarium)

I am responsible for the day-to-day management of the Fielding-Druce Herbarium (OXF), which includes dealing with queries about the collection and managing loans to researchers worldwide. I am the first point of contact for researchers and students who wish to visit OXF. In my research, I have worked on the taxonomy of the African genus Faurea (Proteaceae) and am interested in the history of botany, especially the collections in OXF. I have particular interests in William Dampier and George Claridge Druce.

Anne Sing (Technician)

Rosemary Wise (Botanical artist)