13 December 2019
Thomas M Heller
Conservation Partnership Coordinator
Department
Team
Seed Conservation , UK & Islands - UK Overseas Territories
Specialism
Diversity and conservation of islands flora, especially Caribbean and South Atlantic UK Overseas Territories. Zanthoxylum (Rutaceae) systematics.
Biography
As a member of the Islands team, I work in collaboration with partners in the UK Overseas Territories and other islands to document and conserve the wide diversity of these floras. I provide support and training to partners in plant identification and targeting, collecting seeds, herbarium specimens and data in the field. My current focus is on threatened plants and forest diversity in the Caribbean, with active projects in the Virgin Islands (British and US) and Puerto Rico. I have a particular interest in the genus Zanthoxylum (Rutaceae), currently conducting research into its evolution and ecology in the Caribbean through field study and molecular approaches (population genetics and phylogenomics). I have also worked extensively in seed conservation, managing projects in the South Atlantic (Falkland Islands, St Helena and Ascension Island), Caribbean (Anguilla, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Montserrat, Turks & Caicos Islands, Bahamas, Puerto Rico), and the United Arab Emirates.
Qualifications and appointments
- BSc (Hons), Botany, University of Bristol, 2000
- MSc, Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants, Edinburgh University, 2003
Selected publications
Clubbe, C. et al. (2020)
Current knowledge, status, and future for plant and fungal diversity in Great Britain and the UK Overseas Territories’
Plants, People, Planet 2: 557–579.
The BVI TIPAs National Team (2019)
Retaining nature’s little secrets - A guide to the important plants and Tropical Important Plant Areas of the British Virgin Islands.
Edited by T. Heller. Richmond, Surrey, UK: Kew Publishing, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. doi: 10.34885/167.
Cheek, M., Oben, B. & Heller, T. (2009)
The identity of the west-central African Oricia lecomteana Pierre, with a new combination in Vepris(Rutaceae).
Kew Bulletin 64: 509-512.
Projects
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Tropical Important Plant Areas (TIPAs) in the British Virgin Islands (BVI)
Identifying key sites for plant and habitat conservation in the British Virgin Islands (BVI).
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Identifying and conserving resilient habitats in the British Virgin Islands
Informing conservation of globally threatened biodiversity by identifying forest habitats resilient to natural disasters in the British Virgin Islands.
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Global Tree Seed Bank Programme
Conserving some of the world’s rarest, endangered and useful tree and shrub species as well as conducting vital tree conservation research in order to retain a significant resource for humanity.
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