Way, Michael
Job TitleHead of Collecting & Network Support
DepartmentSeed Conservation
SectionCollecting & Network Support
Science Teams:
Joined Kew: 1993
Foreign Language(s): Portuguese, Spanish
Qualifications & Appointments
Chartered Environmentalist CEnv and Member of the Institute of Ecology & Environmental Management MIEEM.
BSc (Hons), Applied and Environmental Biology, Univ. York, 1988
Overseas Fieldwork Committee (RBG Kew)
Role
Through line-management of the International Coordinators, the Head of Collecting and Network Support (CNS) is responsible for the collaborations that contribute to the Collection and Sustainable use objectives of the MSB partnership. The role includes oversight of MSBP country and project budgets, and leading on the common standards and procedures for Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit-Sharing that underpin our partnerships. The Head of CNS also forms part of the Departmental Management Team defining MSBP strategy and monitoring achievements on a regular basis.
Contributes to the development of best practice in fieldwork, plant conservation, access and benefit-sharing and habitat restoration through participation in RBG Kew technical committees and work groups.
Projects
- Climate Change, Species Vulnerability and Germination Thresholds
- Cactus Seed Biology Database
- Ex situ Conservation, Propagation and Re-introduction of Endemic, Endangered and Vulnerable Plant Species from the Arid Lands of Chile
- Ex situ Conservation of Plant Germplasm from Arid and Semi-Arid Zones of Mexico
- Sustained Plant Conservation in the Insular Caribbean
- Developing Agreements with International Third Parties
- Kew Latin American Research Fellowships
- Monocot Checklist-Project Completed
- Seed Research and Technical Cooperation with Brazil
- MSBP Madagascar
- Seeds of Success USA: Native Plant Materials for Conservation and Restoration
- MSB Enhancement Project Part 1A: Species Targeting (Project completed 2008)
- Restoring forests and ecosystem services in the Amazon
- UK Native Seed Hub
- Project MGU - the Useful Plants Project
Selected Recent Publications
León-Lobos P, Way M., Davila-Aranda P., Lima-Junior M. (2011). The role of seed banks in the conservation of plant diversity and in ecological restoration in Latin America. Plant Ecology & Diversity. Accepted.
P. León-Lobos , M. Way, M. Rosas, A. Sandoval and H. W. Pritchard (2011) The contribution of the Millennium Seed Bank Project to ex situ plant conservation in Chile Kew Bulletin 65:1-7. Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.
Kate Hardwick, Peggy Fiedler, Lyndon C. Lee, Bruce Pavlik, Richard J. Hobbs, James Aronson, Martin Bidartondo, Eric Black, David Coates, Matthew I. Daws, Kingsley Dixon, Stephen Elliott, Kern Ewing, George Gann, David Gibbons, Joachim Gratzfeld, Martin Hamilton, David Hardman, Jim Harris, Pat M. Holmes, Meirion Jones, David Mabberley, Andrew Mackenzie, Carlos Magdalena, Robert Marrs, William Milliken, Anthony Mills, Eimear Nic Lughadha, Margaret Ramsay, Paul Smith, Nigel Taylor, Clare Trivedi, Michael Way, Oliver Whaley, and Stephen D. Hopper (2011). Defining the Role of Botanic Gardens in the Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration Conservation Biology, Volume 25, No. 2, 265–275.
Way, M; Ulian, T & Sacande, M (2010) Saving Useful Plants through the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership. Defra Sustainable Development Scene. http://sd.defra.gov.uk/category/research/
Way, M. & Wenham, J. (2008) Safeguarding plant collections from the wild and from the garden. Public Garden: Issue Three-Four pp19-22. American Public Garden Association.
- Figueroa, J.A., León-Lobos, P., Caviares, L.A., Pritchard, H. & Way, M. (2004). Ecofisología de semillas en ambientes contrastantes de Chile: un gradiente desde ecosistemas desérticos a templados-húmedos. In Cabrera, H.N. (ed) Fisiología de plantas- Mecanismos y respuestas a estrés en los ecosistemas. Chile: Ediciones Universidad Valparaíso. 81-98.
- Gold, K., Leon-Lobos, P. & Way, M.J. (2004). Manual de recoleccion de semillas de plantas silvestres para conservacion a largo plazo y restauracion ecologica. La Serena, Chile: Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias.
Selected Earlier Publications
Way, M.J. (2003). Collecting seed from non-domesticated plants for long-term conservation’. In Smith, R.D., Dickie, J.B., Linington, S.H., Pritchard, H.W. & Probert, R.J. (eds) Seed Conservation: turning science into practice. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 163-201.
León-Lobos, P., Way, M., Pritchard, H., Moreira, A., León, M. & Casado, F. (2003). Conservación ex situ en banco de semillas de la Flora Chile, Chloris Chilensis Año 6, No 1. [http:www.chlorischile.cl]
