Roberta Ann Townsend

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Roberta Ann Townsend (born 1954) is an Australian botanist, phycologist and archivist. She is also known as a plant collector under the name Roberta Ann Cowan.

Life

Townsend was born in 1954 in Melbourne, Victoria. She completed a BSc (hons) in 1976 at the University of Melbourne. [1] She later graduated from the University of Sydney in with a PhD for her thesis "The Sporolithaceae  : its place in the Florideophycidae" in 1995. [2]

In 1994 Townsend's interest in researching algae led her to edit the Australian Marine Algal Name Index. [1]

She married American botanist Richard Sumner Cowan in 1986. Together they collected many plant species. [1]

During 2002 and 2003 she served as the Australian Botanical Liaison Officer at the Royal Botanic Gardens in London, England. [3]

As of 2023 Townsend is working at the Western Australian Herbarium on coralline algae. [1]

The standard author abbreviation R.A.Towns. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name. [4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Cowan, Roberta Ann". Council of Heads of Australian Herbaria. Retrieved 2025-02-13.
  2. ↑ Cowan, R. (Roberta) (1995), The Sporolithaceae : its place in the Florideophycidae , retrieved 13 February 2025
  3. ↑ George, Alex (May 2024). "The Australian Botanical Liaison Officer (ABLO) scheme at Kew, 1937–2009". Biologue. 33 (3) – via Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
  4. ↑ International Plant Names Index.  R.A.Towns.
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