Dr Richard Gornall
Director of the Botanic Garden & Curator of the Herbarium
School/Department: Genetics and Genome Biology, Department of
Telephone: +44 (0)116 271 2933
Email: rjg@leicester.ac.uk
Profile
Research
• systematic, evolutionary and floristic studies of the Saxifragaceae
• taxonomic monograph of Saxifraga (c500 spp.)
• studies of gene flow and genetic diversity in aquatic species
• preparation of a genetical flora of the British Isles, for use as a conservation tool
GeneBank55: conservation of the flora of vice-county 55
Publications
(0)
Henniges, M. C., Powell, R. F., Mian, S., Stace, C. A., Walker, K. J., Gornall, R. J., Christenhusz, M. J. M., Brown, M. R., Twyford, A. D., Hollingsworth, P. M., Jones, L., de Vere, N., Antonelli, A., Leitch, A. R. & Leitch, I. J. (2022) A taxonomic, genetic and ecological data resource for the vascular plants of Britain and Ireland. Scientific Data 9: 1 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-01104-5.
Schwarzacher, T., Scrocca, V., Johnson, K. & Gornall, R. J. (2016 [2017]) Speciation in Callitriche (Plantaginaceae): the allopolyploid origin of C. platycarpa. New J. Bot. 6(2-3): 98-101.
Viana, D., Figuerola, J., Schwenk, K., Manca, M., Hobaek, A., Mjelde, M., Preston, C. D., Gornall, R. J., Croft, J., King, R., Green, A. & SantamarÂa, L. (2015 [2016]) Assembly mechanisms determining high species turnover in aquatic communities over regional and continental scales. Ecography 39: 281-288.
Gao, Q.-B., Li, Y., Gornall, R. J., Zhang, Z.-X., Zhang, F., Xing, R., Fu, P., Wang, J., Liu, H., Tian, Z. & Chen, S. (2015) Phylogeny and speciation in Saxifraga sect. Ciliatae (Saxifragaceae): evidence from psbA-trnH, trnL-F and ITS sequences. Taxon 64(4): 703-713.
Zhang, Z.-X., Chen, S.-L. & Gornall, R. J. (2015) Morphology and anatomy of the exine in Saxifraga (Saxifragaceae). Phytotaxa 212 (2): 1-28.
Zhang, Z.-X., Xia, N.-H. & Gornall, R. J. (2015) Leaf venation patterns in the genus Saxifraga (Saxifragaceae). Phytotaxa 221(2): 123-136.
Gornall, R. J., Wentworth, J. E. & Bennett, S. T. (2011) Loss of rRNA loci in autotetraploid Parnassia palustris (Celastraceae). New J. Bot. 1(1): 33-37.
King, R. A., Gornall, R. J., Preston, C. D. & Croft, J. M. (2002) Population differentiation of Potamogeton pectinatus in the Baltic Sea with reference to waterfowl dispersal. Mol. Ecol. 11(10): 1947-1956.
Soltis, D. E., Kuzoff, R. K., Conti, E., Gornall, R. J. & Ferguson, K. (1996) matK and rbcL gene sequence data indicate that Saxifraga (Saxifragaceae) is polyphyletic. Amer. J. Bot. 83(3): 371-382.
Webb, D. A. & Gornall, R. J. (1989) Saxifrages of Europe. London, C. Helm.
.Supervision
Teaching
I teach in all three years of the BSc Biological Sciences degree programme.
Year 1: Adaptation & diversity
Year 2: Field guide to evolution
Year 3: student projects
I also teach a course in Plant Identification, based at the Botanic Garden, aimed at professionals and interested members of the public.
Press and media
Activities
President of the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland (2005-2008)
Honorary member of the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland
Editor of Watsonia (1982-1991) and New Journal of Botany (2011-2015)
Awards
Visiting Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Xining), 2011-2012
Media coverage
Qualifications
M.Sc. Plant genetic resources (Birmingham, 1976)
Ph.D. Plant taxonomy (British Columbia, 1980)