People
Smith, Rhian J.
| Job Title | Director's Postdoctoral Research Fellow |
|---|---|
| Department | Directorate |
| Section | Directorate |
| Science Teams |
United Kingdom Large-Scale Syntheses Myrtaceae Monocots II: Commelinids Monocots III: Orchids |
| Joined Kew | 2005 |
| Foreign Language(s) | basic French and Welsh. |
Qualifications & Appointments
BSc (1st class Hons), Univ. Wales (Cardiff), 1997
PG Dip. Statistics (Distinction), Univ. Dublin (Trinity College), 2001
PhD, Univ. Dublin (Trinity College), 2004
Role
Research into plant diversity, evolution and conservation.
My role involves conducting scientific research on broad issues in plant diversity, evolution and conservation. This research spans a number of disciplines and aims to answer questions on biogeography, phylogenetics, reproductive biology and ecology, whilst also addressing broad questions in plant evolution, speciation, landscape processes and conservation. Major research is focused on the southwest Australian biodiversity hotspot, the biogeography and conservation of granite outcrop floras and the phylogeny and conservation of the Haemodoraceae. These projects involve a wide range of internal and external collaborators. I am also Executive Officer to the Senior Science Group.
Projects
Conservation Genetics of UK Plants
Granite outcrop plants- biogeography, evolution and conservation
Haemodoraceae - phylogenetics, biology and conservation
Old climatically-buffered infertile landscapes - evolution and conservation of biodiversity
Population Genetics of UK Orchids
Systematics, evolution and conservation of Australian orchids
Systematics and conservation of Western Australian Eucalypts
Selected Recent Publications
Smith, R.J. & Waldren, S. (2006). Genetic variation in Irish threatened plant species: a European perspective. In Botanical Links in the Atlantic Arc (eds. Leach SJ, Page CN, Peytoureau Y, Sanford MN). Botanical Society of the British Isles. pp 137-145.
Shapcott, A., Rakotoarinivo, M., Smith, R.J., Fay, M.F & Dransfield, J. (2007). Can we bring Madagascar's critically endangered palms back from the brink? Genetics, ecology and conservation of the critically endangered palm Beccariophoenix madagascariensis. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 154: 589-608.
Bateman, R.M., Smith, R.J. & Fay, M.F. (2008). Origin, evolutionary significance and conservation implications of Orchis x angusticruris (O. purpurea x O. simia), a hybrid orchid new to the British Isles. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 157: 687-711.
Hopper, S.D., Smith, R.J., Fay, M.F., Manning, J.C. & Chase, M.W. (2009). Molecular phylogenetics of Haemodoraceae in the Greater Cape and Southwest Australian Floristic Regions. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 51: 19-30.
Roux, J.P., Hopper, S.D. & Smith, R.J. (2009). Isoetes eludens (Isoetaceae), a new endemic species from the Kamiesberg, Northern Cape, South Africa. Kew Bulletin 64: 123-128.
Selected Earlier Publications
Smith, R.J. (2004). Conservation biology of Colchicum autumnale L. and Campanula trachelium L. in the Nore Valley, Southeast Ireland. PhD thesis, University of Dublin.
Smith, R.J., Waldren, S. and Rich, T.G.C. (2004). Genetic variation in European populations of wild asparagus, Asparagus prostratus. Report for the Countryside Council of Wales and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, Ireland.
