Activities and Disciplines

Staff of the Centre for Economic Botany

See also: Staff publications

Contact details: Emails at Kew follow the format initial.surname@kew.org

Our address is: Jodrell Laboratory, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 3AE. Fax: +44 (0)20 8332 3717.

If you are uncertain which staff member to contact, please email us at:
Email: ceb-enq@kew.org

Detailed information on our enquiries service is available.

Further information on Kew staff and projects (as at early 2006) can be found at the Kew Science Directory.

Prof. Monique Simmonds is Deputy Keeper of the Jodrell Laboratory and head of Kew's Sustainable Uses group, which comprises the Centre for Economic Botany and the Biological Interactions section. Her research draws on a long-standing interest in plant-animal interactions, especially their role in the host selection behaviour of insects. Current research is on the economic uses of plants/fungi, in particular their potential as pharmaceutical and agrochemical leads, and as sources of sustainably-harvested products. This involves studying the chemistry of plants and fungi, the biological activities of extracts and isolated compounds, and using the new DNA based phylogenies to assist guide the selection of species. Prof. Simmonds is also interested in the development of chemical authentication methods to check the quality of plant-derived products being sold as medicines, cosmetics and functional foods. These projects often involve the development of benefit-sharing strategies with collaborators, supporting plant conservation in developing countries.

Frances Cook graduated in Geography at Liverpool and gained an M.Sc. in Ecology at the University College of North Wales. With an interest in botany and development , she joined the staff at Kew in 1981 at the beginning of the SEPASAL project and worked on this for several years, co-authoring the FAO publication Non-timber Uses of selected arid zone trees and shrubs in Africa. On creation of the Centre for Economic Botany she was involved in the conversion of the Economic Botany Bibliographic Database from the old card index system to the current electronic version and prepared the Economic Botany Data Collection Standard. She has recently returned from a three year career break, and is now involved in identification of pot pourri samples and preparation of toxicity reports, as well as answering enquiries.

Dr Liz Dauncey trained as a Taxonomist, revising Dendrobium section Pedilonum, a group of orchids from S.E.Asia. She made a small leap to poisonous plants (and fungi) in 1992 and now manages the Nightshade Project, a joint initiative between Kew and the Medical Toxicology Unit of Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital Trust.

Steve Davis joined SEPASAL in 1993 and is Project Manager. He previously worked for IUCN, his publications including the three volumes of Centres of Plant Diversity: A Guide and Strategy for their Conservation (WWF-IUCN, 1994-1997). Recently he contributed to, and was Associate Editor of Plant Resources of Tropical Africa (PROTA) Precursor volume. Steve helped design the PC version of SEPASAL and co-supervised its conversion into an online database. He is co-ordinator for a major international collaboration with the National Museums of Kenya (NMK) and the Botanical Research Institute in Namibia, where SEPASAL "nodes" have been established. In 2001, Steve was one of three Kew staff nominated by the U.K. Government to the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity Roster of Experts on Drylands.

Olwen Grace first joined the Centre for Economic Botany in 2000 and was appointed as UK Country Officer for the PROTA Foundation in 2004. Olwen is a graduate of the University of Natal in South Africa, where she obtained a BSc Honours and MSc in Botany and Economic Botany. Her research interests focus on the sustainable use of the African flora. Olwen's MSc thesis evaluated the role of bark in South African traditional healthcare. Her PhD, currently underway, will assess the value of leaf characters in the systematics of the economically important genus, Aloe.

Laura Hastings has worked in the Herbarium at Kew since 1983, first in taxonomy and then economic botany. Her responsibilities in CEB include the Potpourri Analysis Service and carrying out research into British ethnobotany, including the Ethnomedica project, and the taxonomy of the palm genus Rhapis.

Christine Leon Christine Leon started work at the Royal Botanic Gardens in 1980 > and currently heads the Chinese Medicinal Plants Authentication Centre (CMPAC). CMPAC is building a reference collection of plant-based Chinese medicines and working on the accurate identification of Chinese medicines in use outside China. She also supports enquiries relating to adverse health effects from all kinds of herbal remedies, in collaboration with Guy's & St Thomas' Hospital, London. In 2005 Christine was awarded an Honorary Professorship at the Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Beijing. She is also sits on various committees involved with medicnal plant conservation and their sustainable use, including the IUCN Medicinal Plant Specialist Group.

Dr Mark Nesbitt came to the CEB in 1999. After studying agricultural botany at Reading University, Mark moved into archaeological science via a Master's degree in Archaeobotany at the Institute of Archaeology, London, followed by 14 years fieldwork in the Near East. At present, Mark works with the Economic Botany Collection, developing plans for its digitisation and researching its materia medica collections, especially of Cinchona. Mark's other responsibilities include co-ordinating the Kew component of the University of Kent M.Sc. in Ethnobotany, and looking after CEB's web pages and the internship programme. From 2004-2005 he was project manager for Plant Cultures, drawing on his interests in plant history and exchange. In his spare time he continues to publish in archaeobotany, particularly on agricultural origins and all aspects of wheat evolution and history. Mark was a Council Member of the Society for Economic Botany (2005-2007) and is an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Anthropology, University of Kent at Canterbury.

Jill Turner originally joined CEB in 1998 to work on a review of potentially harmful plants for the Horticultural Trades Association. She now assists in the answering of CEB enquiries, with a special interest in poisonous plants and botanical jewellery.

CEB alumni
Hew Prendergast is now Superintendent of Ashdown Forest, in East Sussex. Helen Sanderson has moved to an outreach post at St. Ann's Allotments in Nottingham. Julia Steele is now collections manager at the Society of Antiquaries. Georgina Pearman works at the Eden project. Rory McBurney is undertaking a MRC/ESRC-funded PhD in ethnobotany and nutrition at the University of Kent. Naomi Rumball is in Hastings.