Professor Alexandre Antonelli

Director of Science

Department

Science

Specialism

Biodiversity assessments, biogeography, evolution, genomics, meta-barcoding, methods development, molecular phylogenetics, tropical biology.

Biography

Reporting to the Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, I provide leadership and management of the Science Directorate. My overall aim is to strengthen and further develop Kew as a global centre of excellence in plant and fungal knowledge and to promote evidence-based solutions to major challenges.

My main tasks are to:

Drive excellence in Kew’s science, attract globally leading scientists, promote career development among staff, and steer performance and operational delivery of science programmes and projects.
Be an advocate and spokesperson for Kew’s science internally and externally, including promoting Kew’s research portfolio and partnerships in the scientific and policy communities nationally and internationally.
Provide effective leadership as a member of the Executive Board.
Increase fundraising, including the generation of income for science consultancy and Kew’s Intellectual Property.
Lead and further develop a research programme including current and future students and early career researchers reporting directly to me.

Qualifications and appointments

Current positions

Full Professor in Systematics and Biodiversity. University of Gothenburg, 2015-

Previous positions

Founder and Director, Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, 2017-19
Scientific Curator, Gothenburg Botanical Garden, 2010-19
Science Advisor, Universeum Science Centre, 2016-18
Cisneros Visiting Scholar, Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University, 2018
Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, 2014-15
Researcher, Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, 2012-14
Associate staff member, Panama Canal Project, 2011-16
Postdoctoral fellow, Institute of Systematic Botany, University of Zurich, 2009-10

Qualifications

PhD Systematics and Biodiversity, University of Gothenburg, 2008
MSc Biology, University of Gothenburg, 2003
Biology, University of Campinas, 1996

Editorships

Associate editor, Systematic Biology, 2015-
Associate editor, Journal of Biogeography, 2015-
Associate editor, Journal of Systematics and Evolution, 2014-

Awards and distinctions

Elected member of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences in Gothenburg, 2016-
Elected member of the Young Academy of Sweden, 2016-19
Future Research Leader, 2016
The Faculty of Science Research Award, 2015
Wallenberg Academy Fellow, 2014
Elected member of the Young Academy of Europe, 2013-

A full CV is available on the Antonelli Lab website.

Selected publications

Di Sacco, A., Hardwick, K., Blakesley, D., Brancalion, P.H.S., Breman, E., Cecilio Rebola, L., Chomba, S., Dixon, K., Elliott, S., Ruyonga, G., Shaw, K., Smith, P., Smith, R.J., Antonelli, A. (2021).

Ten golden rules for reforestation to optimize carbon sequestration, biodiversity recovery and livelihood benefits.

Global Change Biology 27:1328–1348.

Grace, O.M., Pérez-Escobar, O.A., Lucas, E.J., Vorontsova, M.S., Lewis, G.P., Walker, B.E., Lohmann, Lúcia G., Knapp, S., Wilkie, P., Sarkinen, T., Darbyshire, I., Nic Lughadha, E., Monro, A., Woudstra, Y., Demissew, S., Muasya, A. M., Díaz, S., Baker, W. J., Antonelli, A., Grace et al. (2021).

Botanical monography in the Anthropocene.

Trends in Plant Science 26: 433–441

Condamine, F.L., Silvestro, D., Koppelhus, E.B. & Antonelli, A. (2020).

The rise of angiosperms pushed conifers to decline during global cooling.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 117: 28867–28875.

Zizka, A., Antunes Carvalho, F., Calvente, A., Rocio Baez-Lizarazo, M., Cabral, A., Coelho, J.F.R., Colli-Silva, M., Fantinati, M.R., Fernandes, M.F., Ferreira-Araújo, T., Gondim Lambert Moreira, F., Santos, N.M.C., Santos, T.A.B., dos Santos-Costa, R.C., Serrano, F.C., Alves da Silva, A.P., de Souza Soares, A., Cavalcante de Souza, P.G., Calisto Tomaz, E., Vale, V.F., Vieira, T.L. & Antonelli, A. (2020).