Dr Zoe Goodwin
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Dr Zoë Goodwin, Postgraduate Co-ordinator
I am the Postgraduate Co-ordinator for the RBGE's MSc in Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants. I am course leader for the 'Evolution of Plants' and 'Biodiversity of Angiosperms' modules and I also help teach the 'Tropical Plant Identification' module. I specialise in teaching the vegetative identification of tropical plant families and general field identification skills.
I am also a tropical botanist specialising in the Neotropical flora, in particular I am interested in the savanna and dry forests of Central and South America.
After my MSc I spent much of my time collecting and identifying plants in the forests and lowland savannas of Belize, Central America. During my PhD I investigated the history of tropical taxa through herbarium specimens, and how these herbarium specimens have influenced our understanding of tropical diversity.
I continue to work on the flora of Belize and in the Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests of the Marañón valley in Peru, an inter-Andean valley which is famous for its exceptional number of endemic species.
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Goodwin, Z.A. et al. (2020) How long does it take to discover a species? Systematics and Biodiversity
Goodwin, Z.A. et al. (2020) Belize and the RBGE: Reflecting on 16 years of collaborative training. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 77 (2): 291–309
Goodwin, Z.A. et al. (2015) Widespread mistaken identity in tropical plant collections. Current Biology 25 (22): R1066–R1067
Goodwin, Z.A. et al. (2013) A checklist of the vascular plants of the lowland savannas of Belize, Central America. Phytotaxa 101 (1): 1–119
Hicks, J., Goodwin, Z.A. et al. (2011) A floristic description of the San Pastor Savanna, Belize, Central America. Edinburgh Journal of Botany 68 (2): 273–296
Belize (2006+) - The top sets of my specimens (numbers 100+) are held at E and BRH, additional sets are held at BM, MEXU, MO & K.
Brasil (2019) - Collected with Peter Moonlight, top set held at HUEFS.
Perú (2020) - Collected with Paúl Gonzáles, held at USM, E, MOL, MO, CPUN & QCA.
St Lucia (2005) - Numbers 1-100 are held at the National Herbarium of St Lucia & UPRRP.
Citation:
Goodwin, Zoë. 2022. Natural history specimens collected and/or identified and deposited. [Data set]. Zenodo. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3581428
“Museum Mistakes” 2015 Interview with BBC World Service
Scotsman Interview 2015
Botanics Story: Worst-ever fire season shows the urgency of training in plant identification skills
Botanics Story: Mercedes Chanek – a hidden Indigenous plant collector from Belize
Botanics Story: A new species of shrub discovered in the dry Andean valleys of Peru and Ecuador
Botanics Story: Rare plants and rare skills
Zenodo Blog: Zenodo Enables a New Workflow for Collectors of Natural History Specimens
Linnean Society Talk: Stories from Plant Collections: Science, History and Culture (Talk and Q&A)
Botanics Story: Learning on the job: students make valuable scientific discoveries
Botanics Story: Hot, steep and spiny – Exploring the forgotten forests of Latin America
Z.A. Goodwin (2016) Lets talk about coffee – correctly. Standart 6: 20-23
- PhD, Univ. Oxford, 2018. “Completing the global inventory of plants–Species discovery and diversity”
- MSc Biodiversity & Taxonomy of Plants, Univ. Edinburgh & Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, 2006. “Floral evolution in the Streptocarpus cyaneus (Moore) complex”
- BSc Environmental Biology, Univ. St Andrews, 2005. “Further investigation into possible gene flow between sympatric Senecio glaucus L. and Senecio vernalis Waldst. & Kit. in Israel: evidence for a previously undetected hybrid swarm.”
Useful links:
Darwin Initiative Project 17-022 Conservation of the lowland savanna ecosystem in Belize
Searchable end of project database (BRAHMS online)
Specimens held at E (search for Collector Surname/Expedition = "Goodwin" + Country = "Belize")
Field guides to the flora of the lowland savanna of Belize:
Useful links:
Newton-Paulet Funded project website: Increasing knowledge of dry and montane ecosystems across Peru
Publications:
Paúl Gonzáles, Asunción Cano, Tiina Särkinen, Zoë Goodwin, Niels Valencia, Inés Sachahuamán y José Luis Marcelo-Peña. Las plantas comunes del bosque seco del Marañón Biodiversidad para las comunidades locales
Yawei Cao, Zoë Goodwin, Paúl Gonzáles y Tiina Särkinen. Guide to the common Apocynaceae species of the Marañón seasonally dry tropical forest English & Español
Outreach:
Hot, steep and spiny – Exploring the forgotten forests of Latin America
Increasing knowledge of Apocynaceae in the seasonally dry tropical forests of the Marañón by Yawei Cao, MSc in Biodiversity & Taxonomy of Plants student (2020-21)
A new species of shrub discovered in the dry Andean valleys of Peru and Ecuador
Oldroyd, Lizzie. 2010. Illustrated user-friendly identification key to the Cyperaceae of Belize.
Tesh, Jonathan P. 2012. A survey of floral structure in Drypetes Vahl (Putranjivaceae) and related genera.
Bogle, Aubrie. 2021. A Phytogeographic Analysis of the Lowland Savannas in Belize.
Cao, Yawei. 2021. An Annotated Checklist of Apocynaceae in the Marañón Seasonally Dry Tropical Forest (Peru).
Kou, Tianze. 2022. Taxonomic revision of the Leguminosae genus Ctenodon in the Marañón Valley.
Connolly-moyls, Connor. 2024. A revision of Ayenia L. found in the seasonally dry tropical forest of the Upper Marañón Valley, Peru.
Discover more
- Dr Caroline Lehmann, Head of Tropical Diversity
- Dr Hannah Atkins
- Dr Mark Hughes
- Dr Catherine Kidner
- Dr Michael Möller
- Dr James Richardson
- Dr Louis Ronse De Craene
- Dr Tiina Sarkinen
- Dr Peter Wilkie
- Dr Mark Newman
- Dr Peter Moonlight
- Dr Kanae Nishii
- Sanna Olander
- Jess Rickenback
- Madhavi Sreenath
- Thibauld Michel
- Briggitthe Melchor Castro
- Elliot Convery-Fisher, PhD Candidate
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