Robyn S Cowan
Lab Technician (Molecular)
I work in the molecular laboratory helping with the day to day maintenance and operation of the laboratory. I also train staff, students and visitors, support the technical aspects of project design and implement new technologies.
I have worked on a research project towards establishing a universal DNA barcode for land plants, on conservation genetics projects involving threatened species in the UK and UKOT. At present I am working on projects to develop techniques for extracting DNA from old and recalcitrant samples such as herbarium specimens and wood and enhancing our Next Generation Sequencing capabilities.
- BSc (Hons), Univ. London, 1993.
- Council, Systematics Association (2007 – 2009)
- Chair, Plant Working Group & Scientific Advisory Board, Consortium for the Barcode of Life.(2005 – 2007)
Vitales, D., García-Fernández, A., Pellicer, J., Vallès, J., Santos-Guerra, A.,Cowan, R.S., Fay, M.F. & Garnatje, T. (2014).
Key Processes forCheirolophus (Asteraceae) Diversification on Oceanic Islands Inferred from AFLP Data.
PLoS ONE 9: e113207.
Sanchez, M., Ingrouille, M.J., Cowan, R.S., Hamilton, M.A. & Fay, M.F. (2014).
Spatial structure and genetic diversity of natural populations of the Caribbean pine, Pinus caribaea var. bahamensis (Pinaceae), in the Bahaman archipelago.
Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society, 174: 359–383.
Särkinen, T., Staats, M., Richardson, J. E., Cowan, R.S., Bakker, F.T. (2012)
How to Open the Treasure Chest? Optimising DNA Extraction from Herbarium.
PLoS ONE 7: e43808.
Rowntree, J.K., Cowan, R.S., Leggett, M., Ramsay, M.M. & Fay, M.F (2010)
Which moss is which? Identification of the threatened moss Orthodontium gracile using molecular and morphological techniques.
Conservation Genetics 11: 1033 - 1042.
