Stephen Blackmore

CBE 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 ...

FRSE FRSB FLS (born 30 July 1952) is a British botanist, who was educated at St. George's School,

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

and the

University of Reading The University of Reading is a public university in Reading, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1892 as University College, Reading, a University of Oxford extension college. The institution received the power to grant its own degrees in 192 ...

where he completed his PhD in 1976 on the "Palynology and Systematics of the Cichorieae". He was elected a fellow of 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. It possesses several important biological specimen, manuscript and literature colle ...

in 1976. He then worked at the

Royal Society of London The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

’s Research Station on

Aldabra Atoll Aldabra is the world's second-largest coral atoll, lying south-east of the continent of Africa. It is part of the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that are part of the Outer Islands (Seychelles), Outer Islands of the Seychelles, with ...

in the Indian Ocean before being appointed Lecturer in Biology and Head of the National Herbarium and Botanic Garden at the

University of Malawi The University of Malawi (UNIMA) is a public university established in 1965 and until 4 May 2021, when the university underwent a delinking, was composed of four constituent colleges located in Zomba, Blantyre, and Lilongwe. Of the four colleges, ...

. In 1980, he was appointed Head of Palynology at Natural History Museum in London and from 1990 to 1999 served there as Keeper of Botany. In 1985 he organized, together with Keith Ferguson, the Linnean Society symposium "Pollen and Spores: Form and Function" and in 1990, together with Susan Barnes, "Pollen and Spores: Patterns of Diversification". He was the 15th Regius Keeper of the

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

from 1999 until 20 December 2013, and was appointed Her Majesty's Botanist in Scotland in 2010. Blackmore has received three awards from the Linnean Society of London: the Trail-Crisp Medal Award in 1987; the

Bicentenary Medal of the Linnean Society The Bicentenary Medal is a scientific award given by the Linnean Society. It is awarded annually in recognition of work done by a biologist under the age of 40 years. The medal was first awarded in 1978 on the 200th anniversary of the death of ...

in 1992; and the Linnean Medal in 2012. The

Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society The Royal Caledonian Horticultural Society (RCHS) is the national horticultural society of Scotland, and was founded in 1809.

awarded him the Scottish Horticultural Medal in 2008, and the

Royal Horticultural Society The Royal Horticultural Society (RHS), founded in 1804 as the Horticultural Society of London, is the UK's leading gardening charity. The RHS promotes horticulture through its five gardens at Wisley (Surrey), Hyde Hall (Essex), Harlow Carr (Nor ...

presented him the

Victoria Medal of Honour The Victoria Medal of Honour (VMH) is awarded to British horticulturists resident in the United Kingdom whom the Royal Horticultural Society Council considers deserving of special honour by the Society. The award was established in 1897 "in per ...

in 2012. In the

2011 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2011 were announced on 31 December 2010 in the United Kingdom,United Kingdom: New Zealand,New Zealand"New Year Honours 2011"(14 January 2011) 2 ''New Zealand Gazette'' 55. The Cook IslandsThe Cook Islands: Grenada,Grenada: ...

list he was appointed a

for "services to plant conservation". In 2013 Blackmore was appointed Chairman of the Darwin Expert Committee of the Darwin Initiative and, since 2014, he has also been Chairman of

Botanic Gardens Conservation International Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) is a plant conservation charity based in Kew, Surrey, England. It is a membership organisation, working with 800 botanic gardens in 118 countries, whose combined work forms the world's largest pla ...

. He serves on the board of the

Seychelles Islands Foundation Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) manages and protects the World Heritage Sites of Aldabra and Vallee de Mai. The foundation was established as a public trust in 1979, with the President of Seychelles as patron. The Board of trustees, appointed b ...

References

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* 1952 births Living people Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Fellows of the Linnean Society of London Fellows of the Royal Society of Biology People associated with the Natural History Museum, London Victoria Medal of Honour recipients Linnean Medallists Alumni of the University of Reading {{england-scientist-stub