Head of Research, Seed Conservation Department

Head of research group comprising eight staff, who have published >100 papers in international peer-reviewed journals, refereed for >50 journals and supervised >30 post-graduate students since 2006. Personal successes include securing ten collaborative grants worth c. £1.15 million and publishing 42 papers (37 in PR journals, including TIPS and PNAS) since 2006. Career publications are > 150, receiving 120 citations per annum, and an h-index of 20. My research, with > 30 countries, focuses on: global syntheses of seed quality traits; ecological correlates of tree seed storability; biochemical and biophysical mechanisms of seed viability loss; seed cryobiology; and threshold models for germination in relation to climate change. I hold the departmental lead for programmes with India and China, serve as Chairman of the Student Steering Committee and am a member of Kew Senior Science Group, with a particular interest in science policy.

International leadership:

Vice-chairman of International Seed Testing Association’s Forest Tree and Shrub Seed Committee (2004-10); Chairman, International Seed Testing Association’s Seed Storage Committee (2007-13); Chairman, Society for Low Temperature Biology (2008-11); UK Management Board of COST Action 871 on ‘Cryopreservation of crops of Europe’ (2006-2010); Leader, Theme 3 of the FAO Commission’s State of the World’s Forest Genetic Resources (2011-13).
 

Institutional programme assurance:

National science agenda with Ghanaian Academy of Arts and Sciences and the Royal Society (2007); genebank science for United States Department of Agriculture (2008); international review panel for Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2009).
 

Fundraising & competitive grants:

£ 10 k, Mhd Bin Zayed Conservation Fund (2011-13, with Jayanthi Nadarajan)
£ 10 k, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists (2011).
£ 7 k, Univ. of Sussex, UK, for conference organisation and public relations (2009-11);
£ 165 k, CNPq for Morphophysiology of tree seeds from the Amazon (2008-15; with Wolfgang Stuppy and Ilse Kranner; PI, Isolde Ferraz, INPA)
£ 220 k, Darwin Initiative project on ‘Orchid Seed Stores for Sustainable Use - OSSSU’ (15 countries, 2007-10, with Phil Seaton and Tim Marks);
£ 50 k, Department for Culture Media and Sports’ World Collections Programme for seed banking in China (2008);
£ 30 k, Biodiversity assessments in China (2008-10);
£ 300 k, COST Action 871 Cryopreservation of European crops (2006-10, with Jayanthi Nadarajan; PI, Bart Panis, Univ Leuven, Belgium)
£ 170 k, Darwin Initiative project on ‘Cryo-conservation Centre of Excellence for sub-Sahara Africa - CCESSA’ (South Africa, 2005-08, with Chris Wood);
£ 190 k, Darwin Initiative project ‘Darwin Initiative Research Exercise on Community Tree Seeds – DIRECTS’ (15 countries, 2003-06, with Moctar Sacandé)
 

Keynote presentations (examples):

International Society for Seed Science, 10th Congress, Brazil, 2011; International Union of Forestry Research Organisations, Seed Congress, Taiwan, 2010; Agricultural and Marketing Research and Developmental Trust Congress, New Zealand, 2008; International Seed Testing Association, 28th Congress, Brazil, 2007.
Conference organisation: Fundamental Aspects of Plant Cryopreservation (EU COST Action 871, 2 days, UK, Feb 2009); Cryo2010 (American Society for Cryobiology, 4 days, UK, July 2010); Regenerative Medicine and Cryobiology (SLTB, 2 days, UK, March 2011); Cryopreservation of Forest Species (SLTB, 2 days, UK, Sept 2011).
 

Supervision:

PhD: Rachel Webster (2006, Univ. Manchester, UK), Kim Hamilton (2008, Griffith University, Australia); Xia Ke (2009, Beijing University and Chinese Academy of Sciences); Christiane Gamené (Gembloux Univ., Belgium, ongoing); Gisele Batista (UNESP, Brazil, ongoing); Marco Porceddu (Univ. Cagliari, ongoing); Marcos Ferraz (UNESP, Brazil, ongoing); MSc: >10 students since 2006.
 

Civic / charitable work:

Founding Trustee (1999) and Trustee (2010- ), International Society for Seed Science; Trustee, Society for Low Temperature Biology (2011- ); Governor, Writtle Agricultural College, partner to the University of Essex (2008-12)
 

Publishing quality assurance:

Assistant Editor, CryoLetters (2000- ); Editorial Boards, Seed Science Research (2006- ) and Propagation of Ornamental Plants (2010 -). Referee regularly, including for Journal of Experimental Botany, Planta, Annals of Botany, The Plant Journal.
Management and funding of science at Wakehurst Place and Kew