Stewart McPherson (geographer)

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Stewart McPherson
Born
Stewart Robin McPherson

May 1983 (age 39)
Alma mater University of Durham
OccupationGeographer, field biologist, nature photographer, writer
AwardsDavid Given Award for Excellence in Plant Conservation (2012)
Website www.redfernnaturalhistory.com

Stewart Robin McPherson (born May 1983) is a British geographer, field biologist, nature photographer, and writer. [1] [2]

Contents

Background

Born May 1983, McPherson graduated in geography at the University of Durham in England, and studied briefly at the University of Tübingen in Germany, and Yale University in the United States. [1] On graduation in 2006 he founded Redfern Natural History Productions in Poole, Dorset to conduct natural history research, publishing, filming and eco-tours. [3]

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 plants. He has co-discovered a number of species (including the much publicised Nepenthes attenboroughii ) and has formally described around 35 carnivorous plant taxa. [4]

He is a member of the IUCN SSC Carnivorous Plant Specialist Group. [2] He documented each species in full detail in its natural habitat, taking seven years with many expeditions in the tropics of Southeast Asia, Africa and South America. Over time he has transitioned towards TV presenting and natural history writing. [5] [6]

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 sandstone plateaux of southern Venezuela and the borderlands of northern Brazil and western Guyana. A 2011 documentary Mountain with No Name was set on Palawan in the Philippines, where he discovered new species of flesh-eating plants on a previously unexplored mountain. An earlier 2010 film documented the discovery of Nepenthes leonardoi .

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 70,000 km (43,000 mi) 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 and South Georgia he retraced the expedition of Ernest Shackleton, and made a rare visit to the Chagos Archipelago and Pitcairn Island. The series was filmed in 2012-2014, broadcast on BBC Four in 2016 and repeated in 2018 and 2019. [7] [8]

Awards

In 2012 McPherson was the first recipient of the David Given Award for Excellence in Plant Conservation. [2]

Published work

The standard author abbreviation S.McPherson is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name. [14]

Related Research Articles

<i>Nepenthes platychila</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Nepenthes platychila is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Hose Mountains of central Sarawak. It is notable for its smooth peristome and funnel-shaped upper pitchers. Nepenthes platychila belongs to the loosely defined "N. maxima complex", which also includes, among other species, N. boschiana, N. chaniana, N. epiphytica, N. eymae, N. faizaliana, N. fusca, N. klossii, N. maxima, N. stenophylla, and N. vogelii.

<i>Nepenthes treubiana</i> Species of pitcher plant from New Guinea

Nepenthes treubiana is a tropical pitcher plant native to Western New Guinea and the island of Misool.

<i>Nepenthes rowaniae</i> Species of pitcher plant from Australia

Nepenthes rowaniae is a species of pitcher plant endemic to the Cape York Peninsula, Australia. It is closely related to N. mirabilis and was once considered an extreme form of this species.

<i>Nepenthes mira</i> Tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Philippines

Nepenthes mira is a highland pitcher plant endemic to Palawan in the Philippines. It grows at elevations of 1550–1605 m above sea level.

<i>Nepenthes paniculata</i> Species of pitcher plant from New Guinea

Nepenthes paniculata is a tropical pitcher plant belonging to the genus Nepenthes.

<i>Nepenthes deaniana</i> Species of pitcher plant from the Philippines

Nepenthes deaniana is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to the Philippines, where it grows at an altitude of 1180–1296 m above sea level. The species is known only from the summit region of Thumb Peak, a relatively small, ultramafic mountain in Puerto Princesa Province, Palawan.

<i>Nepenthes smilesii</i> Species of pitcher plant from Indochina

Nepenthes smilesii is a tropical pitcher plant native to northeastern Thailand, southern Laos, Cambodia, and Vietnam. Nepenthes smilesii can tolerate an extended dry season and is most common in open, sandy savannah and grassland.

<i>Nepenthes <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> hookeriana</i> Species of pitcher plant from Southeast Asia

Nepenthes × hookeriana, or Hooker's pitcher-plant, is a common natural hybrid involving N. ampullaria and N. rafflesiana. It was originally described as a species.

<i>Nepenthes <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> trichocarpa</i> Species of pitcher plant from Southeast Asia

Nepenthes × trichocarpa, the dainty pitcher-Plant, is a common natural hybrid involving N. ampullaria and N. gracilis. It was originally thought to be a distinct species and was described as such.

<i>Nepenthes <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> ferrugineomarginata</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Nepenthes × ferrugineomarginata is a natural hybrid between N. albomarginata and N. reinwardtiana. It has been recorded from the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. The type specimen was collected by Shigeo Kurata in Kenukat, West Kalimantan, in 1981. Kurata described the hybrid the following year. The name is a nomen invalidum as it was published without a Latin description.

<i>Nepenthes tenax</i> Species of pitcher plant from Australia

Nepenthes tenax is a lowland species of tropical pitcher plant native to northern Queensland, Australia. It is the third Nepenthes species recorded from the continent and its second endemic species. Nepenthes tenax is closely related to the three other Australian Nepenthes species: N. mirabilis, N. rowaniae and N. parvula.

<i>Nepenthes <span style="font-style:normal;">×</span> sharifah-hapsahii</i> Species of carnivorous plant

Nepenthes × sharifah-hapsahii is a natural hybrid between N. gracilis and N. mirabilis. It has been recorded from Borneo, Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra, and Thailand, although it was originally described as a species endemic to Peninsular Malaysia, where it was said to grow at elevations below 1000 m.

<i>Nepenthes attenboroughii</i> Species of pitcher plant from the Philippines

Nepenthes attenboroughii, or Attenborough's pitcher plant, is a montane species of carnivorous pitcher plant of the genus Nepenthes. It is named after the celebrated broadcaster and naturalist Sir David Attenborough, who is a keen enthusiast of the genus. The species is characterised by its large and distinctive bell-shaped lower and upper pitchers and narrow, upright lid. The type specimen of N. attenboroughii was collected on the summit of Mount Victoria, an ultramafic mountain in central Palawan, the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alastair Robinson</span> Botanist and Botanical illustrator

Alastair S. Robinson is a taxonomist and field botanist specialising in the carnivorous plant genus Nepenthes, for which he is regarded as a world authority. He is currently Manager Biodiversity Services at the National Herbarium of Victoria, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, where he oversees identification botany services, the Library and Artwork components of the State Botanical Collection, and the botanical journal Muelleria, a peer-reviewed scientific journal on botany published by the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, for which he is Editor in Chief.

<i>Nepenthes palawanensis</i> Species of pitcher plant from the Philippines

Nepenthes palawanensis is a tropical pitcher plant endemic to Sultan Peak on the island of Palawan in the Philippines, where it grows at elevations of 1100–1236 m above sea level. It was discovered in February 2010 by Jehson Cervancia and Stewart McPherson.

<i>Pitcher Plants of the Old World</i>

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 known at the time. The work was edited by Alastair Robinson and Andreas Fleischmann.

<i>Nepenthes gantungensis</i> Species of pitcher plant from the Philippines

Nepenthes gantungensis is a tropical pitcher plant known from a single peak on the Philippine island of Palawan, where it grows at elevations of 1600–1784 m above sea level.

<i>Nepenthes holdenii</i> Species of pitcher plant from Cambodia

Nepenthes holdenii is a tropical pitcher plant from western Cambodia, where it grows at elevations of 600–800 m above sea level. The species was originally known from only two peaks in the Cardamom Mountains, but the discovery of a new population was reported in October 2011. Seeds were collected in 2014 and the species was successfully introduced into cultivation.

References

  1. 1 2 McPherson, S.R. 2009. Pitcher Plants of the Old World . Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  2. 1 2 3 Stewart McPherson receives new Plant Conservation Award Archived 2012-10-04 at the Wayback Machine . IUCN World Conservation Congress, September 13, 2012.
  3. ↑ "Home". redfernnaturalhistory.com.
  4. ↑ Miles, J. 2012. Discovering a lost world of rat-eating plants in the Philippines. Friday, October 9, 2012.
  5. ↑ "Meet Stewart McPherson | Redfern Natural History". www.redfernnaturalhistory.com. Archived from the original on 21 January 2014.
  6. ↑ "Pitcher Plants of the Old World - An Interview with Stewart McPherson - The Hoopoe". blog.nhbs.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "BBC Four - Britain's Treasure Islands - Episode guide". BBC. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  8. ↑ "Home – Britain Treasure Island" . Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  9. ↑ Rice, B. 2012. Book review. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 41(2): 83–87.
  10. ↑ Fay, M.F. 2011. Carnivorous plants and their habitats. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society165(4): 439–440. doi : 10.1111/j.1095-8339.2011.01120.x
  11. ↑ Bond, D. 2008. Lost Worlds of the Guiana Highlands. Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc. 89: 14–15.
  12. ↑ Les, D.H. "Book review: Pitcher Plants of the Americas, Stewart McPherson" (PDF).Aquatic Botany87(3): 251–253. doi : 10.1016/j.aquabot.2007.05.001
  13. ↑ McPherson, S. 2006. "New carnivorous plant publication and conservation project" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 July 2011. Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc. 81: 6–8.
  14. ↑ International Plant Names Index.  S.McPherson.
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