Savolainen, Vincent
Job Title
Professor of Organismic Biology
Department
Jodrell Laboratory (and Imperial College London)
Section
Keeper's Group
Science Teams:
Joined Kew:
1999 (Imperial College London - 2007)Foreign Language(s):
French (mother tongue).Qualifications & Appointments
BSc, Univ. Geneva, 1989
MSc, Univ. Geneva, 1991
PhD, Univ. Geneva, 1995
Panel Evaluator, European Research Council (Starting Grants 2007-2013)
Chair, Royal Society Research Grants Board H (2008-2012)
Panel Member, NERC Peer Review College (2008-)
Panel Member, Leverhulme-Royal Society Africa Grants
Steering Committee Member, NERC Biomolecular Facilities
The Society of Systematic Biologists, Member
Links with Other Academic Bodies
Guest Editor, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society - Biological Sciences (2005)
Associate Editor, Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution (2004-2006)
Associate Editor, Systematic Biology (2004-present)
Awards
Fellow of the Linnean Society (FLS), 2006
Bicentenary Medal of the Linnean Society, 2006
Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, Royal Society European Exchange Programme, 1995
Fellow of the Institute of Biology (FIBiol), 2009
ERC Advanced Grant, European Research Council, 2008
Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award, 2009
Role
Evolution, Ecology, Conservation.
I combine field ecology, molecular phylogenetics, population genetics and genomic approaches to help explain the origin of biodiversity and, where possible, find solutions for its preservation in a rapidly changing world. Current areas of particular interest include: Global and regional patterns of biodiversity; Evolutionary radiations; Speciation genomics; Conservation genetics.
Projects
- Angiosperm Phylogeny Group III
- Co-Evolution at the Plant-Animal Interface
(project completed 2010) - Conservation and monitoring of Meso-American orchids - COMPLETED 2008
- DNA Banking, Phylogeny and Conservation of the South African Flora
- Establishing a Standard DNA Barcode for Land Plants (project completed 2007)
- Genera Graminum Edition 2
- Complete Generic Phylogenetic Tree for all Seed Plants
- Global Patterns and Processes of Plant Diversity
- Grass Evolution, Anti-Herbivory and Past Climate - COMPLETED 2008
- Evolutionary Origin of Biodiversity Hotspots with a Mediterranean Climate (HOTMED)
(project completed 2008) - HOTSPOTS - understanding and conserving the Earth's biodiversity hotspots - COMPLETED 2009
- Systematics and Evolution of Palms
- Monocot Checklist-Project Completed
- Phylogenetics and conservation of Madagascan Euphorbia (Euphorbiaceae) - COMPLETED 2008
- Phylogenetics of the Monocots
- Phylogenetics of Orchidaceae
- Sympatric speciation on oceanic islands
Selected Recent Publications
Davies, T.J., Smith, G.F., Bellstedt, D.U., Boatwright ,J.S., Bytebier, B., Cowling, R.M., Forest, F., Harmon, L.J., Muasya, A.M., Schrire, B.D., Steenkamp, Y., van der Bank, M. & Savolainen V. (2011). Extinction risk and diversification are linked in a plant biodiversity hotspot. PLoS Biol. 9(5): e1000620.
Papadopulos, A.S.T, Baker, W.J., Crayn, D., Butlin, R.K., Kynast, R.G., Hutton, I. & Savolainen, V. (2011). Speciation with gene flow on Lord Howe Island. PNAS 108: 13188-13193,
Arnold, S.E., Faruq, S., Savolainen, V., McOwan, P.W. & Chittka, L. (2010). FReD: The Floral Reflectance Database — A Web Portal for Analyses of Flower Colour. PLoS ONE 5(12): e14287.
Hollingsworth, P.M., Forrest, L.L., Spouge, J.L., Hajibabaei, M., Ratnasingham, S., van der Bank, M., Chase, M.W., Cowan, R.S., Erickson, D.L., Fazekas, A.J., Graham, S.W., James, K.E., Kim, K.J., Kress, W.J., Schneider, H., van AlphenStahl, J., Barrett, S.C.H., van den Berg, C., Bogarin, D., Burgess, K.S., Cameron, K.M., Carine, M., Chacon, J., Clark, A., Clarkson, J.J., Conrad, F., Devey, D.S., Ford, C.S., Hedderson, T.A.J., Hollingsworth, M.L., Husband, B.C., Kelly, L.J., Kesanakurti, P.R., Kim, J.S., Kim, Y.D., Lahaye, R., Lee, H.L., Long, D.G., Madrinan, S., Maurin, O., Meusnier, I., Newmaster, S.G., Park, C.W., Percy, D.M., Petersen, G., Richardson, J.E., Salazar, G.A., Savolainen, V., Seberg, O., Wilkinson, M.J., Yi, D.K., Little, D.P. (CBOL Plant Working Grp) (2009). A DNA barcode for land plants. PNAS 106: 12794-1279.
Sauquet, H., Weston, P.H., Anderson, C.J., Barker, N.P., Cantrill, D.L., Mast, A.R. & Savolainen, V. (2009). Contrasted patterns of hyperdiversification in Mediterranean hotspots. PNAS 106: 221-225.
Lahaye R., van der Bank M., Bogarin D., Warner J., Pupulin F., Gigot G., Maurin O., Duthoit S., Barraclough T. G. & Savolainen V. (2008). DNA barcoding the floras of Biodiversity hotspots. PNAS 105: 2923-2928
Christin, P.A., Besnard, G., Samaritani, E., Duvall, M.R., Hodkinson, T.R., Savolainen, V. & Salamin, N. (2008). Oligocene CO2 decine promoted C4 photosynthesis in grasses. Curr. Biol. 18: 37-43.
Forest, F, Grenyer, R., Rouget, M., Davies, T.J., Cowling, R.M., Faith, D.P., Balmford, A., Manning, J.C., Proches, S., van der Bank, M., Reeves, G., Hedderson, T.A.J. & Savolainen, V. (2007). Preserving the evolutionary potential of floras in biodiversity hotspots. Nature 445: 757-760.
Savolainen, V., Anstett, M.-C., Lexer, C., Hutton, I., Clarkson, J.J., Norup, M.V., Powell, M.P., Springate, D., Salamin, N., Baker, W.J. (2006). Sympatric speciation in palms on an oceanic island. Nature 441: 210-2133.
Selected Earlier Publications
Davies, T.J., Barraclough, T.G., Chase, M.W., Soltis, P.S., Soltis, D.E. & Savolaine,n V. (2004). Darwin's abominable mystery: insights from a supertree of the angiosperms. PNAS 101: 1904-1909.
Soltis, P.S., Soltis, D.S., Savolainen, V., Chase, M.W., Crane, P.R. & Barraclough, T.G. (2002). Rate heterogeneity among lineages of tracheophytes: integrating molecular and fossil data and evidence for molecular living fossils. PNAS 99: 4430-4435
Qiu, Y.-L., Lee, J., Bernasconi-Quadroni, F., Soltis, D.E., Soltis, P.S., Zanis, M., Chen, Z., Savolainen, V. & Chase, M.W. (1999). The earliest angiosperms: evidence from mitochondrial, plastid and nuclear genomes. Nature 402: 404-406
