| December 2000 |
NEW SCIENTISTS |
Issue No 5 |
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The Job involves processing and documenting various loans into and out of the herbarium as well as some IT support, and working on the ongoing and exciting task that is the Type database! I am about to start work on a digitizing project which will result in the creation of a web page and databases of Engelbert Kaempfer's 17th Century collections from Japan. (This will resemble in many ways the Paul Hermannn on-line database) Kaempfers herbarium is historically and scientifically important component of the Sloane Herbarium. I am looking forward to an upcoming trip to Liverpool to see their new Conservation Laboratory and also to boasting at parties about where I work - I really love that look in people's eyes when they hear the words 'Natural History Museum'. I also enjoy explaining about the extensive range of the NHM's collections, and its vital role as a leading world scientific research centre, usually summing up with the words "there's a lot more there than just the dinosaur, you know, yeah, it's huge...I'll have a gin and tonic please" (only joking!). Interested in Botany since teenage experiments with spider plants, to see how big they can get (which is pretty big!) I once grew one that was nearly a metre cubed in size, I kid you not! Botanical loves: All succulents. (Well, they do kinda look like final proof of life on Mars). Botanical hates: Nope, can't think of anything I hate. Although if pressed, I might say outlandish and bizarre topiary.
The Job involves working to promote the NHM's involvement with UK biodiversity work and initiatives to enthusiastic amateurs, specialist societies, conservation charities and Government Departments. A major focus of the role is to coordinate, support and encourage the survey and monitoring of UK Biodiversity Action Plan priority cryptogamic plants. This is being done in association with a wide range of organisations, groups and individuals in order to target and prioritise actions that will enhance the conservation status of these species and their habitats. Interested in Botany since I was given a plastic plant press for Christmas when I was about six and spent rather too long trying to preserve holly for posterity. Botanical loves: I have been fascinated with Araucaria araucana since I was very small. I was given a trio of young specimens from Chile as a wedding present, so they now follow me from house to house in ever growing pots. And of course, I love all things cryptogamic (even those indistinguishable from furry little bits of rock - honestly!). Botanical hates: plastic ferns, and those absolutely dreadful cacti with added florescent orange tops - so natural looking, particularly if you stick on a few dried flowers....
The job involves studying population genetics using choroplast and nuclear markers, mostly grinding up bits of fern for DNA amplification and sequencing. The best bits are collecting the plants and seeing the patterns of relationships inferred from the genetic markers. Interested in Botany since I was a wee laddie, though I am also interested in animals, especially invertebrates. Botanical loves: Bananas Botanical hates: Something in a Ugandan forest that stung me on the leg, but I never discovered what it was.
The job involves a phylogeographic study of European ferns which requires plant collecting, DNA extraction, DNA amplification, sequencing, analysis, and writing. Interested in Botany since I won a sunflower-growing competition Botanical loves: Most New Zealand forest trees especially those with holes in them for weta (a type of cricket) to live in. Botanical hates: introduced plants that strangle New Zealand trees.
The job involves research targeted at investigating the evolution and diversification of ferns. Relationships and patterns of diversification will be investigated for ferns in general and for Schizaeaceae in particular. The former involves a collaboration with Kathleen Pryer (Field Museum, Chicago) and will expand on her efforts to resolve some long-standing problems of overall fern relationships, and the latter is a collaboration with Paul Kenrick and Johannes Vogel here at the Museum. The long-term goal of this research is not only to resolve relationships, but also to add the dimension of time by calibrating the phylogenies, combining fossil and sequence divergence data. Interested in Systematics since attending a course in phylogenetic systematics on the west coast of Sweden in 1992 given by Michael Donoghue, David Hillis, Jonathan Coddington, Hans-Erik Wanntorp and Lars Werdelin. They made me see the light at the end of the tunnel! Botanical loves: A derived "brown plant" currently working at SLU (Swedish Agricultural University) in Uppsala. Botanical hates: Charlie's Darlings and the belief that authority is of importance to the validity of an argument. |
