Sandra Diane Knapp (born 1956) is an American-born
botanist
Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...
. She is a merit researcher of the Plants Division of the
Natural History Museum, London and from 2018 was the president of the
Linnean Society of London. While working at the Natural History Museum, London she has overseen the
Flora Mesoamericana inventory of Central American plants. She has published several books on botanical subjects as well as a significant number of scientific articles. In 2016 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 ...
. In 2022 she was elected as a
Fellow of the Royal Society. In 2023 she was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...
(OBE) and was awarded the
Engler Medal in Gold by the
International Association for Plant Taxonomy
The International Association for Plant Taxonomy (IAPT) is an organization established to promote an understanding of plant biodiversity, facilitate international communication of research between botanists, and oversee matters of uniformity and ...
.
Education
Knapp has a B.A. in botany from
Pomona College (1978) and a PhD from
Cornell University (1986), where she worked with Michael D. Whalen.
Work
Knapp specialises in various
taxa within the genus ''
Solanum'', including the ''Geminata'' clade, the Dulcamaroid clade, the ''Thelopodium'' clade, the ''Pteroidea'' group and the tomato (''Solanum lycopersicum'') and relatives. She is also an expert in other taxa within the nightshade family (''