Spencer Barrett (evolutionary biologist)

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Spencer Barrett
Spencer Barrett (2005).jpg
Barrett in 2005
Born
Spencer Charles Hilton Barrett

(1948-06-07) June 7, 1948 (age 73)[1]
Alma mater
Awards
Scientific career
Fields
InstitutionsUniversity of Toronto
ThesisBreeding systems in Eichhornia and Pontederia, tristylous genera of the Pontederiaceae (1977)
Doctoral advisorHerbert George Baker[3][4]
Websitelabs.eeb.utoronto.ca/BarrettLab/

Spencer Charles Hilton Barrett FRS FRSC (born June 7, 1948)[1] is a Canadian evolutionary biologist, formerly a Canada Research Chair at University of Toronto and, in 2010, was named Extraordinary Professor at University of Stellenbosch.[5][6]

Education[]

Barrett was educated at the University of Reading[1] and the University of California, Berkeley where he was awarded a PhD in 1977[3][7] for research into the breeding systems of the plants Eichhornia and Pontederia. He was supervised by Herbert Baker.[4]

Research and career[]

Barrett's interests are in evolutionary biology, evolutionary genetics, evolutionary ecology and plant reproduction.[2] His research seeks understanding of how flowers evolve and what mechanisms are responsible for mating system transitions in flowering plants.[8] Since 2017, he has served as editor of the Proceedings of the Royal Society series B,[9] the flagship scientific journal of the Royal Society.

Barrett is an evolutionary biologist and a worldwide authority on the ecology and genetics of plant reproduction. His work has focused on increasing our understanding of how flowers evolve and the mechanisms responsible for mating system transitions in flowering plants.

Through innovative experiments, amongst his other discoveries, Barrett provided the first experimental evidence for the purging of deleterious genes following inbreeding in plants. He also demonstrated that self-fertilization owing to large floral displays in plants has a detrimental effect on the male fertility of plants.

Barrett’s research group at the University of Toronto focuses on understanding the mechanisms responsible for the evolution of plant mating strategies, and he has edited several leading books in the field.

Awards and honours[]

Barrett was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 1998 and a Fellow of the Royal Society of London in 2004.[8] He was awarded the Sewall Wright Award by the American Society of Naturalists in 2008 and was President of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution from 2010 to 2011.[8]

He received the Sewall Wright Award from the American Society of Naturalists in 2008 and was President of the Canadian Society for Ecology and Evolution from 2010–2011.[8] In 2014, he received the Flavelle Medal from the Royal Society of Canada.[10]

In April 2020 Spencer Barrett was elected Member of the National Academy of Sciences.[11]

References[]

  1. ^ Jump up to: a b c "BARRETT, Prof. Spencer Charles Hilton". Who's Who. ukwhoswho.com. 2017 (online Oxford University Press ed.). A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc. (subscription or UK public library membership required) (subscription required)
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b Spencer Barrett publications indexed by Google Scholar Edit this at Wikidata
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b Barrett, Spencer Charles Hilton (1977). Breeding systems in Eichhornia and Pontederia, tristylous genera of the Pontederiaceae (PhD thesis). University of California, Berkeley. OCLC 6180836. ProQuest 302835946.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Evolution Tree - Spencer C.H. Barrett Details". Academictree.org. 2011-06-10. Retrieved 2017-03-23.
  5. ^ "Spencer Barrett". gc.ca. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  6. ^ "Spencer Barrett". utoronto.ca. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  7. ^ Spencer Barrett's ORCID 0000-0002-7762-3455
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c d "Professor Spencer Barrett". The Royal Society:Fellows Directory. London: Royal Society. 2014.
  9. ^ Barrett, Spencer C. H. (2017). "Proceedings B 2016: the year in review". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences. 284 (1846): 20162633. doi:10.1098/rspb.2016.2633. ISSN 0962-8452. PMC 5247507. PMID 28053056.
  10. ^ Past Award Winners: The Flavelle Medal
  11. ^ "2020 NAS Election". National Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2020-04-28.
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