Stewart McPherson (geographer)

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

Background

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]

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 into TV presenter and natural history writer.[5][6]

He set up Ark of Life to conserve species on the brink of extinction, initially carnivorous plant groups.

Television presenting

McPherson has appeared in several documentaries, including a conservation documentary on the lost world tepui sandstone plateaus of Southern Venezuela and the borderlands of northern Brazil and western Guyana. A 2011 documentary Mountain with No Name is set on Palawan in the Philippines, where he discovers new species of flesh eating plants on a previously unexplored mountain. An earlier 2010 film documents the discovery of Nepenthes leonardoi.

His most notable series for the BBC is "Britain's Secret Treasure Islands" or "Britain's Treasure Islands", four episodes where, fulfilling a lifelong dream, he visits all of Britain's 14 overseas territories, travelling 70,000 km in the process. Working with cameraman Simon Vacher he emphasizes the natural history of each location and history of British settlement, with many wildlife shots and fewer interviews. In British Antarctica and South Georgia he retraces the expedition of Earnest Shackleton, and makes a very rare visit to the Chagos Archipelago. The series was filmed in 2012, 2013 and 2014 and aired in 2015.

Awards

  • The first recipient of the David Given Award for Excellence in Plant Conservation.[2]

Published work

  • Video channel, Redfern Productions
  • McPherson, S. 2016. Britain's Treasure Islands: A Journey to the UK Overseas Territories. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  • Tim Bailey and McPherson, S.R. 2013. Dionaea: The Venus's Flytrap. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  • McPherson, S.R. and Donald Schnell. 2013. Field Guide to the Carnivorous Plants of the United States and Canada. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  • McPherson, S.R. and Alastair Robinson. 2012.Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Sulawesi. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  • McPherson, S.R. and Alastair Robinson. 2012. Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Borneo. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  • McPherson, S.R. and Alastair Robinson. 2012. Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Australia and New Guinea. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  • McPherson, S.R. and Alastair Robinson. 2012. Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Peninsular Malaysia and Indochina. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  • McPherson, S.R. and Alastair Robinson. 2012. Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of Sumatra and Java. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  • McPherson, S.R. and Donald Schnell. 2011. Sarraceniaceae of North America.[7] Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  • McPherson, S.R. and Victor B. Amoroso. 2011. Field Guide to the Pitcher Plants of the Philippines. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  • McPherson, S.R. 2011. New Nepenthes: Volume One. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  • McPherson, S., Andreas Wistuba, Andreas Fleischmann, and Joachim Nerz. 2011. Sarraceniaceae of South America. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  • McPherson, S.R., Andreas Fleischmann, Alastair Robinson. 2010. Carnivorous Plants and their Habitats (2 volumes).[8] Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  • McPherson, S.R. 2009. Pitcher Plants of the Old World. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole. (2 volumes)
  • McPherson, S. 2008. Lost Worlds of the Guiana Highlands.[9] Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  • McPherson, S.R. 2008. Glistening Carnivores - The Sticky-Leaved Insect-Eating Plants. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  • McPherson, S.R. 2006. Pitcher Plants of the Americas.[10][11] McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company.
The standard author abbreviation S.McPherson is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.[12]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 McPherson, S.R. 2009. Pitcher Plants of the Old World. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Stewart McPherson receives new Plant Conservation Award. IUCN World Conservation Congress, September 13, 2012.
  3. ↑ http://www.redfernnaturalhistory.com/
  4. ↑ Miles, J. 2012. Discovering a lost world of rat-eating plants in the Philippines. Friday, October 9, 2012.
  5. ↑ http://www.redfernnaturalhistory.com/about/meet-stewart-mcpherson/
  6. ↑ http://blog.nhbs.com/title-information/pitcher-plants-of-the-old-world-an-interview-with-stewart-mcpherson/
  7. ↑ Rice, B. 2012. Book review. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 41(2): 83–87.
  8. ↑ Fay, M.F. 2011. Carnivorous plants and their habitats. Botanical Journal of the Linnean Society 165(4): 439–440. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8339.2011.01120.x
  9. ↑ Bond, D. 2008. Lost Worlds of the Guiana Highlands. Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc. 89: 14–15.
  10. ↑ Les, D.H. Book review: Pitcher Plants of the Americas, Stewart McPherson. PDF Aquatic Botany 87(3): 251–253. doi:10.1016/j.aquabot.2007.05.001
  11. ↑ McPherson, S. 2006. New carnivorous plant publication and conservation project. PDF Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc. 81: 6–8.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
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