People

Manger, Keith R.

Job Title Laboratory Manager
Department Seed Conservation
Section Technology & Training
Science Teams Millennium Seed Bank Project
Joined Kew 1997
Foreign Language(s)

Qualifications & Appointments

Grad I Biol (Pt 1), NE Surrey College of Technology 1985.

Role

Laboratory Management, Health & Safety, Laboratory / Seed Bank design, financial management, technical support especially relating to equipment.

Managing all aspects of MSB laboratories including equipment maintenance and calibration, chemical & consumable ordering, Health & Safety and building related issues. Technical support to MSBP partners in UK and overseas, especially relating to equipment and building design. Management of the MSBP operating budget. Recent projects supported by in-country technical audits have been carried out for most African MSBP partners. The audits aim to establish the current status of technical facilities relating to the partners specific needs. The reports highlight strengths and suggest solutions to inadequacies such that the partner can, by the end of our partnership, be able to store wild plant seeds to International Seed banking recommendations. Subsequent to the reports and in line with the MSBP formal agreements with each project, source and usually export appropriate equipment and laboratory consumables. Recent projects supported by building/facility design as well as technical advise have included Kunming (China), Tasmania and Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). Other MSBP country partners supported with technical advice and equipment export include Kenya, Jordan, Ghana and Lebanon, all the states of Australia, Italy and Spain.

Projects

Millennium Seed Bank Project China Programme

Millennium Seed Bank Project in Jordan

Millennium Seed Bank Project in Lebanon

Millennium Seed Bank Project in Namibia

Millennium Seed Bank Project in South Africa

Millennium Seed Bank Project in Tasmania

Millennium Seed Bank Project in the Northern Territory of Australia

Collecting and Conserving Threatened and Useful Wild Species from Botswana and Building Seed Conservation Capacity

Collecting and Conserving Wild Species from Burkina Faso and Mali and Building Seed Conservation Capacity

Collecting and Conserving Wild Species from Malawi and Building Seed Conservation Capacity

A Seed Conservation Partnership between Tanzanian Seed Conservation Organisations and the RBG Kew Millennium Seed Bank Project

Selected Publications 2001-2005

Manger K.R., Adams J, Probert R.J. (2003). Selecting seed containers for the Millennium Seed Bank Project – a technical review and survey. In Smith, R.D., Dickie, J.D., Linington, S.H., Pritchard, H.W., & Probert, R.J. (eds) Seed Conservation; turning science into practice. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 637-652.

Probert, R.J., Manger, K.R. & Adams, J. (2003). Non-destructive measurement of seed moisture. In Smith, R.D., Dickie, J.D., Linington, S.H., Pritchard, H.W., & Probert, R.J. (eds) Seed Conservation; turning science into practice. Kew: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 367-387.

Selected Publications pre-2001

Pritchard H.W., Manger K.R. & Prendergast F.G. (1988). Changes in Trifolium arvense seed quality following alternating temperature treatment using liquid nitrogen. Annals of Botany 62: 1-11.

Pritchard H.W. & Manger K.R. (1990). Quantal response of fruit and seed germination rate in Quercus robur L. and Castanea sativa Mill. to constant temperatures and photon dose Journal of Experimental Botany 41: 1549-1557.

Pritchard H.W., Wood J.A. & Manger K.R. (1993). Influence of temperature on seed germination and the nutritional requirements for embryo growth in Arum maculatum L. New Phytologist 123: 801-809.

Pritchard H.W., Tompsett P.B & Manger K.R. (1996). Development of a thermal time model for the quantification of dormancy loss in Aesculus hippocastanum seeds. Seed Science Research 6: 1-9.

Manger K.R. (2000) The Millennium Seed Bank-a technical perspective. Controlled Environment users group. 21-23.