People
Mayo, Simon J.
| Job Title | Araceae systematics specialist |
|---|---|
| Department | Herbarium |
| Section | Monocot Systematics |
| Science Teams |
Drylands: Tropical America Monocots I: General Alismatids & Lilioids Large-Scale Syntheses Drylands: Africa |
| Joined Kew | 1994 |
| Foreign Language(s) | Brazilian Portuguese (fluent), French (intermediate), German (basic), Latin (written) |
Qualifications & Appointments
BSc (Hons), Durham Univ., 1971
PhD, Reading Univ. 1986.
General Committee, Margaret Mee Fellowships Programme
Selection Committee, Kew Latin America Research Fellowships Programme (Chair, 1999-2004)
Coordinator, Biodiversity Subprogramme, Plantas do Nordeste (1993-2004).
Role
Araceae systematics, developing internet delivery of taxonomy; quantitative approaches to taxonomic species characterization to facilitate identification.
Until 2004, leader of the Tropical America Team, then returning to Araceae research in the Monocots Section. The first 3 years mainly involved managing the Kew side of the Plantas do Nordeste programme (PNE), a partnership with Brazil focusing on sustainable use of plants in NE Brazil. Other responsibilities included managing the Petaloid Monocots unit (2001-2002). Following the reorganization of the Herbarium in 2002, led the Tropical America Team and interdepartmental Brazil Drylands Team until 2004. Ongoing supervision of mainly Brazilian postgraduate students at seven different universities (4 PhD theses and one MSc thesis have been completed and successfully defended). Currently with 4 other PhD supervisions in progress. Most topics are on Araceae systematics, but Bromeliaceae, Marantaceae and Orchidaceae are also included. Recent work focuses on the Brejo forests of NE Brazil. Since returning to Araceae research in the Monocots section in 2004, role has included setting up two major projects which focus on delivering taxonomic information over the internet. Araceae Taxonomic Knowledge Base aims to aggregate specialists from many countries around a web portal which will provide high quality taxonomic resources on the family. Phase 1 and 2 began in 2005, the latter (Creating a Taxonomic e-Science) funded by NERC as part of a consortium with NHM and Imperial College. EDIT is a multi-institutional EU project aiming to integrate the taxonomic resources of Europe through a cyberplatform. Araceae phylogenetics work has continued through involvement with the new molecular phylogeny developed by Lidia Cabrera and G. Salazar (UNAM, Mexico) and Mark Chase at the Jodrell Lab. Further developments are planned in connexion with Lidia’s PhD. Interested in approaches to automated data gathering from specimens and quantification of ‘difficult’ characters. Participation in EPSRC and BBSRC grant proposals in consortia linking Kew, Kingston, Surrey and Cardiff Universities.
Projects
Araceae Taxonomic Knowledge Base
Chemosystematics and Biological Activity of Alismatid and Lilioid Monocots
Electronic Cataloguing and Imaging of Monocot Type Specimens
European Distributed Institute of Taxonomy (EDIT)
Kew Latin America Research Fellowships
Margaret Mee Fellowship Programme
Morphometrics and Phylogeography of Anthurium and Monstera (Araceae) in NE Brazil
Plant Information for Northeast Brazil
Repatriation of Herbarium Data for Northeastern Brazil
Selected Publications 2001-2005
Soares, M.L.C. & Mayo, S.J. (2001). Three new species of Philodendron (Araceae) from the Ducke Forest Reserve, central Amazonas, Brazil. Feddes Repertorium, Berlin 112(1-2): 37-45.
Arns, K.Y., Mayo, S.J. & Alves, M.V. (2002). Morfologia de Marantaceae ocorrente no estado de Pernambuco – Brasil. Iheringia sér. Botânica 57(1): 3-20.
Govaerts, R., Frodin, D.G., Bogner, J., Boos, J., Boyce, P.C., Cosgriff, B., Croat T., Gonçalves, E., Grayum, M., Hay, A., Hetterscheid, W., Landolt, E., Mayo, S., Murata, J., Du, Nguyen Van, Sakuragui, C.M., Singh, Y., Thompson, S. & Zhu Guanghua (2002). World Checklist and Bibliography of Araceae (and Acoraceae). Kew: The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 560 pp.
Selected Publications pre-2001
Mayo, S.J. (1989). Observations of gynoecial structure in Philodendron (Araceae). Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 100: 139-172.
Mayo, S.J. (1991). A revision of Philodendron subgenus Meconostigma. Kew Bulletin 46(4): 601-681.
Mayo, S.J., Bogner, J. & Boyce, P.C. (1997). The Genera of Araceae. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 370 pp.
Sales, M.F., Mayo S.J. & Rodal M.J.N. (1998). Plantas Vasculares das Florestas Serranas de Pernambuco: Um Checklist da Flora Ameaçada dos Brejos de Altitude, Pernambuco, Brasil. Recife: Universidade Federal Rural de Pernambuco, Imprensa Universitária - UFRPE. 130 pp.
Andrade, I.M. & Mayo, S.J. (2000). Dynamic shoot morphology in root-climbing Araceae: Philodendron rudgeanum Schott and Ph. fragrantissimum (Hook.) G. Don. Feddes Repertorium 111(5-6): 295-314.