People

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

I obtained my first degree in Botany at the University of St Andrews (1975) and a PhD in plant taxonomy from the University of British Columbia (1980). Since then I have worked at the University of Leicester Botanic Garden initially as Curator (1980) and then as Director (1999). I am also Curator of the Herbarium.

Research

Plant systematics and evolution. Current projects include:
• 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

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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. & Santamar­a, 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.

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Supervision

Plant taxonomy and evolution

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

Plant diversity

Activities

Fellow of the Linnean Society (1987>)
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

Linnean Society Bicentenary Medal, 1988
Visiting Professor, Chinese Academy of Sciences (Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, Xining), 2011-2012

Media coverage

GeneBank55 was featured on BBC's Countryfile programme in 2018.

Qualifications

B.Sc. Botany (St Andrews, 1980)
M.Sc. Plant genetic resources (Birmingham, 1976)
Ph.D. Plant taxonomy (British Columbia, 1980)
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