People

Cripps, Ryan F.

Job Title Cryopreservation Scientist
Department Horticulture & Public Education
Section Micropropagation Unit
Science Teams
Joined Kew 2002
Foreign Language(s)

Qualifications & Appointments

BSc, Agriculture (Horticulture and Botany), Univ. Natal, 1997

PhD, Univ. Natal, 2002.

Committee, Society for Low Temperature Biology.

Role

Cryopreservation of threatened plant species for their long-term conservation.

Perform research into developing techniques in cryopreservation for the ex situ conservation of threatened plant species, especially those that cannot be stored conventionally by seed-banking. This research is performed predominantly on vegetative material from a wide range of species, including ferns, orchids and shrubs/herbaceous plants. Examples include the development of protocols for the cryopreservation of fern gametophytic material, Eulophia epiphytica protocorms and three Wahlenbergia species. Research is currently being performed into the cryopreservation of Pteris adscensionis, Trichomanes speciosum, Trochetiopsis ebenus, Medusagyne oppositifolia and Cypripedium calceolus.