Sainsbury undergraduate Mentor, Gatsby Plant Science Network (1999-2009)

President, Botanical Society of Scotland (2006-2008)

Research Interests
Plant Evolution with emphasis on population genetic structure, mating system evolution, phylogeography, speciation, molecular systematics, and the developmental genetics of flowers. I have a particular interest in the evolutionary consequences of hybridization, the evolutionary history of arctic plants, and genes influencing flower head development in the Asteraceae.

Research group: Dr Adrian Brennan (NERC); David Forbes (NERC); Gerald Hochschartner (StAndrews/SCRI studentship); Charles Coyle (NERC studentship).

Current projects

1.   Genetic and epigenetic mechanisms involved in allopolyploid speciation in Senecio. (NERC, £319K, in collaboration with Prof. Simon Hiscock (PI) and Prof. Keith Edwards (CoI), Bristol University, 2006-2009).

2.   Genomic analysis of adaptive divergence and hybrid speciation in Senecio. (NERC £331K, in collaboration with Dr Daniel Barker (CoI), St Andrews, and Prof Simon Hiscock (CoI) and Prof Keith Edwards (CoI), Bristol University, 2007-2010).

3.   The genomic basis of adaptation and species divergence in Senecio. (NERC £382K, in collaboration with Prof. Simon Hiscock (PI), Bristol University, and Dr Matt Hegarty (CoI), Aberystwyth University, 2009-2012)

4.   Application of a novel snoRNA marker system in plant evolution and systematics (St Andrews/SCRI joint studentship to Gerald Hochschartner, 2006-2009).

5.   Origins of invasive weeds. (NERC studentship to Charles Coyle, 2007-2010).