John Dransfield is an honorary research fellow

Research fellow

The title of research fellow is used to denote a research position at a university or similar institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a principal investigator...

 and former head of palm research at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, as well as being an authority on the phylogenetic classification of palms.

Dransfield has written or contributed to several books on palms, notably both the first and second editions of Genera Palmarum. The first edition was the standard reference for palm evolution and classification and the second edition, expanding on the original, is expected to achieve that same benchmark.

In 2004, Dransfield was awarded the Linnean Medal

Linnean Medal

The Linnean Medal of the Linnean Society of London was established in 1888, and is awarded annually to alternately a botanist or a zoologist or to one of each in the same year...

, an annual award given by the Linnean Society of London

Linnean Society of London

The Linnean Society of London is the world's premier society for the study and dissemination of taxonomy and natural history. It publishes a zoological journal, as well as botanical and biological journals...

.

The genus Dransfieldia

Dransfieldia

Dransfieldia is a monotypic genus of flowering plant in the palm family from New Guinea where the lone species Dransfieldia micrantha grows in dense rain forest. Discovered in 1872, 134 years passed before DNA testing revealed its proper placement...

was named for him.

Selected works

• The typification of Linnean palms.International Bureau for Plant Taxonomy and Nomenclature, 1979.
• A manual of the rattans of the Malay Peninsula. By John Dransfield. Forest Dept., Ministry of Primary Industries, Malaysia, 1979.
• The rattans of Sabah. By John Dransfield. Forest Dept. Sabah, 1984.
• Palmae. By John Dransfield. Published on behalf of the East African Governments by Balkema, 1986.
• Genera Palmarum: a classification of palms based on the work of Harold E. Moore, Jr. By Harold E. Moore
  Harold E. Moore
  Harold Emery Moore, Jr. was an American botanist especially known for his work on the systematics of the palm family. He served as Director of the L. H. Bailey Hortorium at Cornell University, and was appointed Liberty Hyde Bailey Professor of Botany in 1978...
  
  , Natalie W. Uhl and John Dransfield. L.H. Bailey Hortorium, 1987.
• The palms of the New World: a conservation census. By John Dransfield, Dennis Victor Johnson and Hugh Synge. IUCN, 1988.
• The rattans of Sarawak. By John Dransfield. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 1992.
• The palms of Madagascar. By John Dransfield and Henk Beentje. Royal Botanic Gardens and the International Palm Society, 1995.
• Priority species of bamboo and rattan. By V. Ramanatha Rao and John Dransfield. Bioversity International, 1998.
• Corybas west of Wallace's Line. By John Dransfield. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2000.
• World checklist of palms. By Rafaël Govaerts and John Dransfield. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2005.
• Field guide to the palms of Madagascar. By John Dransfield. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2006.
• Field guide to the palms of New Guinea. By William J. Baker and John Dransfield. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, 2006.
• Genera Palmarum: the evolution and classification of palms. By John Dransfield and Natalie W. Uhl. Kew Pub., 2008. Received the 2009 Annual Literature Award of the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries.

External links