I am an evolutionary palaeobiologist interested in how plants evolved to conquer the land. I work at the interface between the Life and Earth Sciences to study the evolution of plant development.
Meet the team behind the Molecular Palaeobotany and Evolution Group:
Dr Sandy Hetherington
PI of the Molecular Palaeobotany and Evolution Group
Background
I studied an MSci in Geology at the University of Bristol (2008-2012) and became fascinated by the evolution of land plants. In 2012 I moved to the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford to undertake my DPhil with Prof Liam Dolan on the evolution of lycophyte roots. My thesis was awarded the Irene Manton Prize in 2018 for the best thesis in Botany by the Linnean Society. After my DPhil I remained in Oxford, first as a postdoctoral researcher (2017) and then a Junior Research Fellow at Magdalen College (2017-2020) continuing my work on root evolution. For my work on root evolution I was named the Palaeontological Association Exceptional Lecturer for 2020-2021. In October 2020 I moved to the Institute of Molecular Plant Sciences (IMPS) at the University of Edinburgh to establish my research group supported by a UKRI Future Leaders Fellowship. Since 2020 we have been building capacity in the lab to carry out our Molecular Palaeobotany research including facilities for both molecular biology and work with fossils. The research in the group has also expanded from our primary focus on root and phloem evolution to cover the evolution of shoots, phyllotaxis and the development of a new model lycophyte species. This work has been supported by funding from The Royal Society, ERC and Human Frontiers Science Programme and most recently through the award of a Philip Leverhulme Prize.
Contact details
- Email: sandy.hetherington@ed.ac.uk
Dr Ana Julia (Anajú) Sagasti
Postdoc
Anajú joined the lab in April 2024 as a PostDoc. She is working on the evolution of apical growth in early land plants with a focus on the Rhynie chert. Anajú has been working on palaeobotany and palaeoecology of fossil hot springs since her PhD and is particularly interested in the anatomical traits of fossil plants, and how plants interact with microorganisms.
Contact details
- Email: anaju.sagasti@ed.ac.uk
- Web: ORCID iD
Dr David Hoey
Postdoc
David joined the lab in July 2024 as a Postdoc, having recently completed his PhD in Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge. He is interested in how plants conquered land at the molecular level. To that end, David combines work with non-vascular Marchantia liverworts and vascular lycophytes such as Selaginella apoda to understand the evolution of adaptations required for terrestrial life.
Contact details
- Email: david.hoey@ed.ac.uk
Dr Róisín Fattorini
Postdoc
Róisín joined the lab in March 2025 as a PostDoc. She is working on lycophyte evolution and development, specifically looking at leaf phyllotaxis. Róisín’s previous research has included investigating the genetic regulators of leaf venation in maize and petal spot development in a daisy species. She is particularly interested in how developmental mechanisms and the genetic networks underlying them have been shaped by evolution.
Contact details
- Email: rfattori@ed.ac.uk
Dr Ryo Taniguchi
Postdoc
Ryo joined the lab in April 2025 as a Postdoc. He is working on 3D imaging of fossil arthropods in the Rhynie chert. His previous research focused on the sensory systems and ecologies of insects in amber, as well as geological fieldwork of hot springs in Japan, analogous to the Rhynie palaeoenvironment. He is interested in reconstructing the behaviour and interaction of extinct organisms with robust fossil evidence.
Dr Laura Cooper
Postdoc
Laura (she/her) completed her PhD with the Molecular Palaeobotany and Evolution Group in 2026. It involved using high-resolution imaging to learn more about the organisms of the Rhynie chert. She is now using these techniques in imaging and three-dimensional reconstruction of fossil plants to estimate functional trait values of Devonian plants as part of the MapRad project.
Contact details
- Email: lcooper5@ed.ac.uk
Zishan (Sannie) Fu
PhD Student
Sannie joined the lab in October 2021 to do her PhD. She is working on phloem evolution with a focus on ferns and gymnosperms. She completed a Bachelor’s degree in Zhejiang University and an MRes in Imperial College.
Tea Reinert
PhD Student
Tea joined the lab in October 2021 and is a PhD student researching phloem evolution in angiosperms and gymnosperms. She completed her undergraduate and Research Masters at National University of Ireland, Galway.
Diego Sánchez-Ganfornina
PhD Student
Diego joined the lab in September 2024 and is a PhD student researching spiral phyllotaxis evolution in land plants, with a focus on understudied plant groups. They completed a Bachelor’s degree in Salamanca University and an MSc in University of Edinburgh – Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
Matt Humpage
Research Assistant
Matt joined the lab in November 2025. He is an award winning palaeoartist, and runs the scientific visualisation studio Northern Rogue Studios. He is working on building and integrating visualisation pipelines for scientific study, and provides visualisation and reconstruction support to the lab.
Contact details
- Email: mhumpage@ed.ac.uk
- Web: ORCID iD
Undergraduate and Masters Students
Masters Students
| 2025 - 2026 | Sophie Burne (Biological Sciences MScR, School of Biology) | |||
| 2025 - 2026 | Beau Jones (Palaeontology and Geobiology MScR, School of Geosciences) | |||
| 2025 - 2026 | Ciara Parratt (Biological Sciences MScR, School of Biology) | |||
| 2023 - 2024 | Jeremy Wyman (Palaeontology and Geobiology MScR, School of Geosciences) | |||
| 2021 - 2022 | Dylan Hundleby (Palaeontology and Geobiology MScR, School of Geosciences) | |||
| 2021 | LuLi (RBGE Masters) |
Honours Project Students
| 2025 | Ciara Parratt |
| 2023 | Kuo Xu |
| 2022 | Jenn Westermann and Beth Mitchell (Anderson Henry Prize and Lang Scholarship Prize) |
| 2021 | Holly-Anne Turner (Botanical Society of Scotland Student Prize) |
Visiting Research Students
| 2026 | Líle Hensey (University of Bath) | |||
| 2024 | Erin Ryan (University of Glasgow) |
Undergraduate Summer Students
| 2023 | Ciara Parratt, Sophie Burne, Hannah Marshall (University of Glasgow) | |||
| 2021 | Jenn Westermann | |||
| 2019 - 2020 | Anna Jones and Siobhán Bridson (Department of Plant Sciences, Oxford) |
Lab Alumni
| Erica de Leau | Erica joined the lab in February 2021 funding by the UKRI. Her research investigated the evolution of the phloem and she acted as lab manager for the group. |
| Dr Rafael Cruz | Rafael joined the lab in January 2022 as a PostDoc. His work focused on lycophyte and fern evolution and development, specifically on genes related to phloem development in Selaginella and other plants. |
| Jeremy Wyman | Jeremy joined the lab in September 2023, and worked on the fossil plants from the Carboniferous fossil site Oxroad Bay locality. |
| Holly-Anne Turner | Holly-Anne joined the lab in January 2021 to do her undergraduate honours project and on completion of this she worked as a Research assistant until April 2022. |
Lab Photos
October 2024, lab photo at Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh
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