Barbara Pickersgill (born 1940) is a British

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

with a special interest in the

domestication Domestication is a multi-generational Mutualism (biology), mutualistic relationship in which an animal species, such as humans or leafcutter ants, takes over control and care of another species, such as sheep or fungi, to obtain from them a st ...

of crops, the

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...

taxonomy image:Hierarchical clustering diagram.png, 280px, Generalized scheme of taxonomy Taxonomy is a practice and science concerned with classification or categorization. Typically, there are two parts to it: the development of an underlying scheme o ...

, and

evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes such as natural selection, common descent, and speciation that produced the diversity of life on Earth. In the 1930s, the discipline of evolutionary biolo ...

of cultivated plants, and the preservation of

crop diversity Crop diversity or crop biodiversity is the variety and variability of crops, plants used in agriculture, including their genetic and phenotypic characteristics. It is a subset of a specific element of agricultural biodiversity. Over the past 5 ...

. Her 1966 dissertation for the degree of

Doctor of Philosophy A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of Postgraduate education, graduate study and original resear ...

from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

concerned the taxonomy of ''

Capsicum chinense ''Capsicum chinense'', commonly known as a "habanero-type pepper", is a species of chili pepper native to the Americas. ''C. chinense'' varieties are well known for their unique flavors and, in many cases, exceptional Pungency, heat. The Race to ...

''. Her doctoral advisor was Charles B. Heiser. When she was awarded the

Linnean Medal The Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society of London was established in 1888, and is awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or (as has been common since 1958) to one of each in the same year. The medal was of gold until 1976, and ...

it was noted that she "is well known throughout the world for her distinguished investigations on the genetics, cytology and systematics of the genus ''Capsicum''". As well as investigating the origins of domesticated pepper species she also investigated the origins of other cultivated plants, including ''Vicia'', ''Psophocarpus'', ''Lens'', ''Cicer'', ''Arachis'', ''Ananas'', ''Gossypium'', ''Ipomoea'' and ''Zea''. She also carried out collecting expeditions to Peru, Brazil, Belize and Papua New Guinea. In 2005 she retired from the School of Biological Sciences at the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public research university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as the University Extension College, Reading, an extension college of Christchurch College, Oxford, and became University College, ...

, to become an Honorary Research Associate. Her research projects include: *The

molecular systematics Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...

and the use of wild species in the improvement of farmed chilis (''Capsicum'') *Research on the

of crops, notably the common bean, ''

Phaseolus vulgaris ''Phaseolus vulgaris'', the common bean,, is a herbaceous annual plant grown worldwide for its edible dry seeds or green, unripe pods. Its leaf is also occasionally used as a vegetable and the straw as fodder. Its botanical classification, alo ...

'', working with the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) in Colombia *The genetic diversity, conservation and improvement of tropical crops such as: **Quinoa (''

Chenopodium quinoa Quinoa (''Chenopodium quinoa''; , from Quechua ' or ') is a flowering plant in the amaranth family. It is a herbaceous annual plant grown as a crop primarily for its edible seeds; the seeds are high in protein, dietary fiber, B vitamins and ...

''), working with the Centro Internacional de la Papa (CIP) in Peru **Banana ( ''Musa'' species) from the East African Highlands

Honours

In 1993 the

Linnean Society of London The Linnean Society of London is a learned society dedicated to the study and dissemination of information concerning natural history, evolution, and Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript a ...

presented Pickersgill with the

for her contribution to botany. In 2000 she was the president of the

Society for Economic Botany The Society for Ethnobotany (formerly Society for Economic Botany) is an international learned society covering the fields of ethnobotany and economic botany. It was established in 1959. In 2022 the Society voted to change its name from the Socie ...

. On 4 August 2006 the Linnean Society of London organised a one-day conference in honour of Pickersgill.Plants, people and evolution: a meeting in honor of Barbara Pickersgill, August 2006, held by the Linnean Society of London
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References

External links

Harvard University Herbaria, Index of Botanists, Author Query for 'Pickersgill'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pickersgill, Barbara 1940 births Living people British botanists British women scientists Academics of the University of Reading Linnean Medallists Indiana University Bloomington alumni Ethnobotanists