People

I am an evolutionary biologist interested in speciation, hybridisation and adaptation in flowering plants. 

I completed my honours degree in molecular plant sciences at the University of Edinburgh in 2008. I received my PhD from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh & University of Edinburgh in 2012, working with Catherine Kidner and Richard Ennos. I then moved to Syracuse, Upstate New York, to do postdoctoral research with Jannice Friedman. 

In August 2014, I returned to the University of Edinburgh as a NERC Independent Research Fellow. My current position is as Senior Lecturer in Botany at the University of Edinburgh and Research Associate at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. 

I am broadly interested in plant evolution and diversification. 

I got my BSc in Biological Sciences from Sichuan University in 2018, and my dissertation was in plant systematics. I did my MRes in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation at the Imperial College London, collaborating with the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew. My PhD project looked at the genomics of hybridisation in the British native plants, including post-glacial introgression and hybridisation at a flora scale.

Meng finished her PhD in 2024, but is continuing to collaborate in her role as a postdoc on a NERC funded project on hybridisation between native and invasive species (led by the University of York). 

I'm interested in evolutionary biology and ecology, and especially plants. 

I began my PhD in the Twyford lab in 2022, investigating the evolution and ecology of host specialisation in parasitic plants, specifically Orobanchaceae, with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh as an external project partner. 

Previously, I completed an integrated Master's in Biology at the University of York, using DNA barcoding in the walnut family (Juglandaceae) for phylogeny and species identification.

I am a PhD student in the Twyford lab researching cross-ploidy hybridisation, introgression, and speciation in British eyebrights. 

I moved to the UK from Virginia in the United States after finishing my Bachelor's degree in biology at William and Mary where I studied hybridization and introgression in milkweed. My research interests include plant genetics, species interactions, and the effects of climate change on population ecology. 

Outside of lab I love exploring the beautiful nature surrounding Edinburgh and catching up with friends over a cup of coffee

I am a plant biotechnologist interested in the evolution and structure of plant genomes. I obtained my BSc degree in Biological Sciences at the University of Malaga and my MSc in Plant Biotechnology at Wageningen University. During my MSc I moved to Scotland to do an internship at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, and stayed to do a PhD with a Darwin Trust scholarship at the University of Edinburgh and RBGE in Dr. Catherine Kidner’s lab. For this project, I studied the role of genomic repeats and TEs in the evolution of the mega-diverse genus Begonia. After this, I joined the Twyford lab to keep studying plant genomes as a Darwin Tree of Life scientist. One of the main projects I am working on is studying and assembling one of the largest genomes sequenced to date: the mistletoe (Viscum album)!

Lucia is now doing a fellowship at the CRAG Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics.

Lucia's ResearchGate profile

I am an evolutionary biologist fascinated by the beauty and complexity of evolutionary process in wild plants. I obtained my BSc degree in Biological Sciences at Zhejiang Normal University and my MSc in Ecology at Zhejiang University. Since my master program, I’ve worked on population genetics, biogeography, and demographic history. I’m always interested in wild plants because I love to explore them in the field and to be inspired by how they evolved during their long history. In my PhD project, I’m focused on the causes of the genetic complexity in British Eyebright (Euphrasia), by studying population genetics, migration history and local adaptation. 

Ding is now a postdoc at the University of Zurich. 

Ding's profile at University of Zurich

I am interested in the evolution and ecology of plants. I completed my bachelor’s degree in Biology in Mexico and a Masters in Science in Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and University of Edinburgh. My PhD work involves using the model plant genus Antirrhinum (snapdragons) to study the processes underlying speciation, with an emphasis on phylogenetic and population genomic analyses (see paper linked below). 

Durán-Castillo et al., 2022, New Phytologist

Mario finished in the lab in 2019 and is now doing research at the Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Forestales, Agrícolas y Pecuarias (INIFAP), Campeche, Mexico.

​I am a botanist interested in natural history, evolution and systematics of plants. I graduated from the University of Oxford in 2016 having studied Biological Sciences. I am now working on Euphrasia, where I am investigating the origins of hybrid taxa derived from parents with different ploidy levels, and how the hemiparasitic habit may be affect hybrid establishment.

Max is now a lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University.

I am an evolutionary biologist interested in plant pollination and reproductive strategies. I completed my BS-MS dual degree in Biological Sciences from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Bhopal in 2015. I am currently a PhD student at the University of Edinburgh and Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and I am interested in understanding the genetics of flexistyly in Indian Alpinia (Zingiberaceae).

Surabhi is now a postdoc at Université libre de Bruxelles. 

Camila did her MSc project on the flora of Fair Isle, Britain's most remote inhabited island. She then continued this project as a Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh Sibbald Trust Fellow in 2016 and 2017. She's now looking for her next opportunity to study island floras.

Edgar did his MSc project in the lab on spatial genetic structure of Mimulus guttatus, and stayed on as a lab tech preparing next-generation sequencing libraries for Euphrasia population genetics. He moved on to a PhD student with Professor Dmitry Filatov and Professor Simon Hiscock at the University of Oxford.

Professor Dmitry Filatov   |   Professor Simon Hiscock

Edgar's profile at Univesrity of Oxford