Tag Archives: Victoria University

Te Papa’s snail expert awarded doctorate

28 June 2012 – 6.18pm

Congratulations to Bruce Marshall, Te Papa’s Collection Manager Molluscs, who was recently honoured with a Doctor of Science by Victoria University of Wellington.

Molluscs are the group of animals that includes snails, slugs, shellfish, squids and octopuses.

Bruce Marshall. © Te Papa.

Doctor of Science degrees are awarded for exceptionally significant contributions to a field of science. Bruce has described and named an incredible 451 new species. Since 1967 he has published more than 120 scientific papers. Bruce’s research encompasses living and fossil molluscs, from both terrestrial and marine environments.

Bruce in the field, 1967.

A marine snail, Calliostoma gendalli, described and named by Bruce Marshall.

Images of some of the species described by Bruce.

Mollusc research at Te Papa.

A list of Bruce’s publications.

Bruce was described as “the leading authority on the taxonomy and systematics of living molluscs in New Zealand” in the conferment letter from Victoria University.

Bruce’s contributions to malacology (the study of molluscs) have also been recognised by his colleagues who have named 23 species and five genera after him, including the sea snails Bruceiella and Marshallopsis.

Image of a shell of Bruceiella.

A marine snail, Annulobalcis marshalli, named after Bruce Marshall.

 

Well done Dr. Bruce!

 

By Leon Perrie | Posted in Biodiversity, Events | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (2)

What’s it like to be a MSc student in systematic botany? Just ask Jessie…

7 September 2009 – 2.20pm

My name is Jessie Prebble and I am the current (2009) recipient of the Te Papa MSc Scholarship in Molecular Systematics. I’m studying at Victoria University, looking at the evolution of the plant genus Wahlenbergia in New Zealand and Australia. I’m using various molecular techniques to try to determine how reliable the current taxonomy of the New Zealand species is, and whether I can infer how many times the genus invaded New Zealand, where from, and when.

Jessie and Wahlenbergia albomarginata subsp. olvina on the ultramafic Dun Mountains near Nelson, New Zealand.

Me and Wahlenbergia albomarginata subsp. olvina on the ultramafic Dun Mountains near Nelson, New Zealand. Photo © Jessie Prebble.

Here I am finding Wahlenbergia gloriosa in an alpine herbfield on Mt Kosciuszko, New South Wales, Australia. Photo © Jessie Prebble.

Here I am finding Wahlenbergia gloriosa in an alpine herbfield on Mt Kosciuszko, New South Wales, Australia. Photo © Jessie Prebble.

I love my research. I spent last summer exploring the country collecting specimens in beautiful locations from the Garvie Mountains in Southland to Muriwai Beach north of Auckland. I even got to head over to New South Wales to hunt down some of the Australian species.  I then spent a few weeks mounting and processing all of my collections, and now they’re stored in the Te Papa Herbarium.

This is the common South Island alpine plant Wahlenbergia albomarginata subsp. albomarginata, which grows profusely on the slopes of Mt Robert, Nelson Lakes area, New Zealand.

This is the common South Island alpine plant Wahlenbergia albomarginata subsp. albomarginata, which grows profusely on the slopes of Mt Robert, Nelson Lakes area, New Zealand. Photo © Jessie Prebble.

Wahlenbergia ceracea growing in an alpine bog on the slopes of Mt Kosciuszko, New South Wales, Australia.

Wahlenbergia ceracea growing in an alpine bog on the slopes of Mt Kosciuszko, New South Wales, Australia. Photo © Jessie Prebble.

Currently I’m dividing my time between the lab, where I extract and sequence short fragments of my specimens’ DNA, and the computer lab, where I puzzle my head over numerous types of data files. I have selected three regions to sequence, two from the chloroplast (trnL-F and trnK-psbA) and one nuclear ribosomal region (ITS). I explore my sequence data by forming alignments of the sequences, then creating phylogenetic trees to tease out the relationships between the species.

Results are starting to trickle in, and so far I can tell that all of the New Zealand species are very closely related, which most likely points to recent and rapid evolution here.  Further results to follow…

The beautiful coastal plant Wahlenbergia congesta subps. haastii growing on sand dunes on the South Island’s west coast, by the mouth of Ship Ck. Photo © Jessie Prebble.

The beautiful coastal plant Wahlenbergia congesta subps. haastii growing on sand dunes on the South Island’s west coast, by the mouth of Ship Ck. Photo © Jessie Prebble.

By Heidi Meudt | Posted in Plants | Also tagged , , , , , , , , | Comments (3)

Developing the next generation of systematists

14 August 2009 – 2.15pm

Developing “the next generation” of professionals is perhaps one of the most important duties of skilled workers in any discipline.  Te Papa’s Botany staff are involved in co-supervising postgraduate university students in systematics. We are currently calling for applications for the Te Papa MSc Scholarship in Molecular Systematics for 2010.

Te Papa is offering this scholarship in collaboration with the School of Biological Sciences at Victoria University of Wellington.  The purpose of the award is to promote research, collaboration, and mentoring between Te Papa and Victoria University in the area of molecular systematics—the scientific study of the diversity and evolutionary relationships of living organisms, based on genetic (DNA) evidence—and taxonomy (naming and classification).
 
Potential projects for 2010-2011 include investigation of species boundaries amongst Gleichenia ferns, phylogeography and/or hybridisation in Asplenium ferns, species relationships amongst Myosotis forget-me-nots, or another topic to be determined.

If you know of any keen students who may be interested, please spread the word–the deadline for applications for is 1 November 2009! 

Potential project plants: Gleichinia, Asplenium, and Myosotis. Copyright Leon Perrie (Gleichinia and Asplenium) and Viv McGlynn (Myosotis).

Potential project plants: Gleichinia, Asplenium, and Myosotis. Images of Gleichinia and Asplenium by Leon Perrie, Curator; © Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Image of Myosotis By Viv McGlynn, © Viv McGlynn.

 

Edit – 1 December 2009 – Link to the description of the scholarship removed, as it is no longer available

By Heidi Meudt | Posted in Plants | Also tagged , , , , , , | Comments (3)
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 279 other followers