Stewart Robin McPherson (born May 1983) is a British

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

, field biologist,

nature photographer Nature photography is a wide range of photography taken outdoors and devoted to displaying natural elements such as landscapes, wildlife, plants, and close-ups of natural scenes and textures. Nature photography tends to put a stronger emphasis o ...

, and

writer A writer is a person who uses written words in different writing styles and techniques to communicate ideas. Writers produce different forms of literary art and creative writing such as novels, short stories, books, poetry, travelogues, p ...

.McPherson, S.R. 2009. ''

Pitcher Plants of the Old World ''Pitcher Plants of the Old World'' is a two-volume monograph by Stewart McPherson on the pitcher plants of the genera ''Nepenthes'' and ''Cephalotus''. It was published in May 2009 by Redfern Natural History Productions and covers all species kno ...

''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.

Background

Born May 1983, McPherson graduated in geography at the

University of Durham Durham University (legally the University of Durham) is a collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university in Durham, England, Durham, England, founded by an Act of Parliament in 1832 and incorporated by royal charte ...

in England, and studied briefly at the

University of Tübingen The University of Tübingen, officially the Eberhard Karl University of Tübingen (german: Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen; la, Universitas Eberhardina Carolina), is a public research university located in the city of Tübingen, Baden-Wü ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. On graduation in 2006 he founded

Redfern Natural History Productions Redfern may refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Redfern (surname), a list of people with the surname * Redfern Froggatt (1924–2003), British footballer Places * Redfern, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia ** Redfern railway station * Elect ...

Poole Poole () is a large coastal town and seaport in Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east. Since 1 April 2019, the local authority is Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole Counc ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

to conduct natural history research, publishing, filming and eco-tours.

Career

Work in natural history

McPherson is the author of around 20 volumes published by his own company and concerned with natural history, largely focusing on

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryot ...

s. He has co-discovered a number of species (including the much publicised '' Nepenthes attenboroughii'') and has formally described around 35 carnivorous plant

taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...

. He is a member of the IUCN SSC Carnivorous Plant Specialist Group. He documented each species in full detail in its natural habitat, taking seven years with many expeditions in the tropics of

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia, also spelled South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia, South-eastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, south-eastern region of Asia, consistin ...

, Africa and South America. Over time he has transitioned towards TV presenting and natural history writing. He set up "Ark of Life" to conserve species on the brink of extinction, initially among carnivorous plant groups.

Television presenting

McPherson has appeared in several documentaries, including a conservation documentary on the lost world ''

tepui A tepui , or tepuy (), is a table-top mountain or mesa found in South America, especially in Venezuela and western Guyana. The word tepui means "house of the gods" in the native tongue of the Pemon, the indigenous people who inhabit the Gran S ...

'' sandstone plateaux of southern

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

and the borderlands of northern

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and western

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

. A 2011 documentary ''Mountain with No Name'' was set on

Palawan Palawan (), officially the Province of Palawan ( cyo, Probinsya i'ang Palawan; tl, Lalawigan ng Palawan), is an archipelagic province of the Philippines that is located in the region of Mimaropa. It is the largest province in the country in ...

in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, where he discovered new species of flesh-eating plants on a previously unexplored mountain. An earlier 2010 film documented the discovery of ''

Nepenthes leonardoi ''Nepenthes leonardoi'' is a tropical pitcher plant known from a single locality in central Palawan, the Philippines. It is closely allied to several other Palawan endemism, endemics, including ''Nepenthes deaniana, N. deaniana'', ''Nepenthe ...

''. His most recent series for the BBC was "Britain's Treasure Islands", a series of three episodes in which he visited all of Britain's 14 overseas territories, travelling in the process. Working with cameraman Simon Vacher, he discussed the natural history of each location and history of British settlement. The series was focused on the natural history of the UK Overseas Territories, particular the most impressive wildlife populations and migrations. In

British Antarctica The British Antarctic Territory (BAT) is a sector of Antarctica claimed by the United Kingdom as one of its 14 British Overseas Territory, British Overseas Territories, of which it is by far the largest by area. It comprises the region south of ...

and

South Georgia South Georgia ( es, Isla San Pedro) is an island in the South Atlantic Ocean that is part of the British Overseas Territory of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands. It lies around east of the Falkland Islands. Stretching in the east� ...

he retraced the expedition of

Ernest Shackleton Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of ...

, and made a rare visit to the

Chagos Archipelago The Chagos Archipelago () or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas, and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives archi ...

and

Pitcairn Island Pitcairn Island is the only inhabited island of the Pitcairn Islands, of which many inhabitants are descendants of mutineers of HMS ''Bounty''. Geography The island is of volcanic origin, with a rugged cliff coastline. Unlike many other ...

. The series was filmed in 2012-2014, broadcast on

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

in 2016 and repeated in 2018 and 2019.

Awards

In 2012 McPherson was the first recipient of the David Given Award for Excellence in Plant Conservation.Stewart McPherson receives new Plant Conservation Award
. IUCN World Conservation Congress, September 13, 2012.

Published work

Video channel, Redfern Productions
* 2016. ''Britain's Treasure Islands: A Journey to the UK Overseas Territories''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * Tim Bailey and McPherson, S.R. 2013. ''Dionaea: The Venus's Flytrap''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * McPherson, S.R. and Donald Schnell. 2013. ''Field Guide to the Carnivorous Plants of the United States and Canada''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * McPherson, S.R. and

Alastair Robinson Alastair S. Robinson (born 1980) is a taxonomist and field botanist specialising in the carnivorous plant genus ''Nepenthes'', for which he is regarded as a world authority.Ellison, A. & Adamec, L. eds., 2017. Contributing Author Information ...

. 2012.''Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Sulawesi''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * McPherson, S.R. and

. 2012. ''Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Borneo''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * McPherson, S.R. and

. 2012. ''Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Australia and New Guinea''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * McPherson, S.R. and

. 2012. ''Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Peninsular Malaysia and Indochina''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * McPherson, S.R. and

. 2012. ''Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Sumatra and Java''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * McPherson, S.R. and Donald Schnell. 2011. ''Sarraceniaceae of North America''.Rice, B. 2012. Book review. ''

Carnivorous Plant Newsletter The ''Carnivorous Plant Newsletter'' is the official publication of the International Carnivorous Plant Society (ICPS), the largest such organization in the world. It is headquartered in Walnut Creek, California. History and editorship The newsle ...

'' 41(2): 83–87. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * McPherson, S.R. and Victor B. Amoroso. 2011. ''Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of the Philippines''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * McPherson, S.R. 2011. '' New Nepenthes: Volume One''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * McPherson, S.,

Andreas Wistuba Andreas Wistuba (born 4 March 1967) is a German taxonomist and botanist specialising in the carnivorous plant genera ''Heliamphora'' and '' Nepenthes''. More than half of all known ''Heliamphora'' species have been described by Wistuba. Pub ...

, Andreas Fleischmann, and

Joachim Nerz Dr. Joachim Nerz (born 1964) is a German taxonomist and botanist specialising in the carnivorous plant genera ''Heliamphora'' and '' Nepenthes''. Nerz has described several new species, mostly with Andreas Wistuba. Publications * Schlauer, J. ...

. 2011. ''

Sarraceniaceae of South America ''Sarraceniaceae of South America'' is a monograph on the pitcher plants of the genus ''Heliamphora'' by Stewart McPherson, Andreas Wistuba, Andreas Fleischmann, and Joachim Nerz. It was published in September 2011 by Redfern Natural History Prod ...

''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * McPherson, S.R., Andreas Fleischmann, Alastair Robinson. 2010. ''Carnivorous Plants and their Habitats'' (2 volumes). Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * McPherson, S.R. 2009. ''

''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. (2 volumes) * McPherson, S. 2008. ''Lost Worlds of the Guiana Highlands''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * McPherson, S.R. 2008. ''Glistening Carnivores - The Sticky-Leaved Insect-Eating Plants''. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. * McPherson, S.R. 2006. ''Pitcher Plants of the Americas''.McPherson, S. 2006. ''

Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc. ''Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc.'', formerly titled simply ''Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society'' and also known as the ''VCPS Journal'', is a quarterly periodical A periodical literature (also called a periodical publication or simp ...

'' 81: 6–8. McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company.

References

External links

*
Simon VacherArk of LifeMeet the man on a mission to save carnivorous plants
BBC Earth {{DEFAULTSORT:McPherson, Stewart 1983 births Living people Alumni of Durham University Yale University alumni University of Tübingen alumni British geographers