Ramsay, Margaret M.
Job TitleConservation Biotechnologist
DepartmentJodrell
SectionConservation Biotechnology Unit
Science Teams:
Joined Kew: 1990
Qualifications & Appointments
BSc (Hons), Botany Imperial College, London, 1982
MSc, Biotechnology, Univ. Central Lancashire, 1988.
Re-introduction Specialist & Bryophyte Specialist Groups, IUCN-SSC
Board, European Committee for Conservation of Bryophytes (ECCB).
Role
Development and application of conservation biotechnology techniques.
Developing and applying in vitro techniques to endangered plants. Provision of training, capacity-building and technical advice, both on and off site.
Ex situ conservation of threatened UK bryophytes, applying techniques developed by the project to increase the number of priority species initiated into aseptic culture and stored in cryopreservation.
Investigate germination and propagation techniques for Hydatellaceae species, developing reliable protocols and supplying plant material for comparative morphological, anatomical and evolutionary studies.
Development of novel methods of plant tissue culture for use in schools - demonstrating techniques to teachers, technicians, exam boards and developing resources for students.
Projects
- Collecting the Flora of Bulgaria
- Conservation and monitoring of Meso-American orchids - COMPLETED 2008
- County Durham Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary project
- Ex Situ Conservation of Threatened UK Bryophytes
- Madagascar Threatened Plants Project - COMPLETED
- Plant Diversity Challenge: the Official UK Response to the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation
Selected Recent Publications
- Sokoloff, D.D., Remizowa, M.V., MacFarlane, T.D., Tuckett, R.E, Ramsay, M.M., Beer, A.S., Yadov, S.R and Rudall, P.J. ( 2008) Seedling Diversity in Hydatellaceae: Implications for the evolution of Angiosperm Cotyledons Annals of Botany 101:153-164.
- Rowntree J. K., and Ramsay M.M. (2009) How bryophytes came out of the cold: successful cryopreservation of threatened species. Biodiversity and Conservation 18: 1413-1420.
Rowntree J.K., Cowan R.S., Leggett M., Ramsay M.M. and Fay M.F. (2010) Which moss is which? Identification of the threatened moss Orthodontium gracile using molecular and morphological techniques. Conservation Genetics 11(3) 1033-1042
Rudall,P.J., Eldridge,T.,Tratt,J., Ramsay, M.M., Tuckett,R.E, Smith,S.Y., Collinson,M.E., Remizowa, M.V., Sokoloff,D.D. (2009) Seed Fertilization, development, and germination in Hydatellaceae(Nymphaeales): Implications for Endosperm evolution in early angiosperms. American Journal of Botany 96(9) 1581-1593
Rowntree ,J., K. Pressel,S., Ramsay,M.M., Sabovljevic,A., Sabovljevic,M. (2011) In vitro conservation of European bryophytes. In Vitro Cell.Dev.Biol.—Plant (2011) 47:55–64
Selected Earlier Publications
- Ramsay, M.M. & Stewart, J. (1998). Re-establishment of the lady’s slipper orchid (Cypripedium calceolus L.) in Britain. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 126: 173-181
- Sarasan, V., Ramsay, M.M. & Roberts, A.V. (2002). In vitro germination and induction of direct somatic embryogenesis in 'Bottle Palm' Hyophorbe lagenicaulis (L. Bailey) H.E. Moore, a critically endangered Mauritian palm. Plant Cell Reports 20:1107-1111.
- Ramsay, M.M. & Dixon, K.W. (2003). Propagation Science, Recovery and Translocation of Terrestrial Orchids. In Dixon, K.W., Kell, S.P., Barrett, R.L., & Cribb, P.J. (eds) Orchid Conservation. Kota Kinabalu Sabah: Natural History Publications. 259-288.
Sarasan,V., Cripps, R., Ramsay, M.M., Atherton, C., McMichen, M., Prendergast, F.G., & Rowntree, J.K. (2006). Conservation in vitro of threatened plants-progress in the last decade. In Vitro Cell. Dev. Biol-Plant 42: 206-214.
Seaton, P. & Ramsay, M.M. (2005). Growing Orchids from Seed. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 96 pp.
