Research group
Research overview
My main area of interest is the evolution and development of floral features that attract pollinating animals. I’m keen to approach questions of floral evolution in an integrative way, combining molecular genetic approaches to understand floral development with functional analyses using bumblebees and other pollinators. Where possible, these projects are carried out with regards to the phylogenetic context.
School of Biological Sciences theme affiliations
Teaching
Part IA Evolution and Behaviour, Part IB Plant and Microbial Science and Part II Plant Sciences on the Natural Sciences Tripos, as well as the MPhil in Developmental Biology.
Previous positions
2013-present Director of Cambridge University Botanic Garden
2013-present Professor of Plant Systematics and Evolution, University of Cambridge
2010-2013 Reader in Evolution and Development, University of Cambridge
1999-2010 Senior Lecturer in Plant Molecular Genetics, University of Cambridge
1996-1999 Research Fellow, Queen’s College, University of Cambridge
Qualifications
1993-1996 PhD in Plant Development, John Innes Centre
1989-1993 BSc Plant and Environmental Biology, University of St Andrews
Websites
Key publications
All publications
Awards and fellowships
- Linnean Society Bicentenary Medal
- William Bate Hardy Prize of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, 2010
- British Ecological Society Marsh Book of the Year Award, 2009
- Pilkington Prize for Teaching, University of Cambridge 2021
Committees
Chair, Council of Scientists of the Human Frontier Science Programme
Trustee, Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh
Council Member, European Society for Evolutionary Developmental Biology
Patron, Cambridgeshire Gardens Trust
Vice-President, Cambridgeshire Beekeepers’ Association
Member, Editorial Board of Current Biology
Member, Advisory Board of New Phytologist
Member, Editorial Board of Current Opinion in Plant Biology
Member, Editorial Committee of Biological Reviews
Member, NERC peer review college
Public engagement
The group is involved in a number of projects that explain pollination and the relationships between plants and animals to a wider audience. See more