Stewart McPherson (geographer)

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

Stewart McPherson
Born
Stewart Robin McPherson

May 1983 (age 40)
Alma materUniversity of Durham
Occupation(s)Geographer, field biologist, nature photographer, writer
AwardsDavid Given Award for Excellence in Plant Conservation (2012)
Websitewww.redfernnaturalhistory.com

Background

Born May 1983, 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]

Career

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 towards TV presenting and natural history writing.[5][6]

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

Television presenting

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

His most recent series for the BBC was "Britain's Treasure Islands", a series of three episodes in which he visited all of Britain's 14 overseas territories, travelling 70,000 km (43,000 mi) in the process. Working with cameraman Simon Vacher, he discussed the natural history of each location and history of British settlement. The series was focused on the natural history of the UK Overseas Territories, particular the most impressive wildlife populations and migrations.

In British Antarctica and South Georgia he retraced the expedition of Ernest Shackleton, and made a rare visit to the Chagos Archipelago and Pitcairn Island. The series was filmed in 2012-2014, broadcast on BBC Four in 2016 and repeated in 2018 and 2019.[7][8]

Awards

In 2012 McPherson was the first recipient of the David Given Award for Excellence in Plant Conservation.[2]

Published work
  • Video channel, Redfern Productions
  • 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.[9] 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).[10] 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.[11] 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.[12][13] McDonald and Woodward Publishing Company.

References
  1. McPherson, S.R. 2009. Pitcher Plants of the Old World. Redfern Natural History Productions, Poole.
  2. Stewart McPherson receives new Plant Conservation Award Archived 2012-10-04 at the Wayback Machine. IUCN World Conservation Congress, September 13, 2012.
  3. "Home". redfernnaturalhistory.com.
  4. Miles, J. 2012. Discovering a lost world of rat-eating plants in the Philippines. Friday, October 9, 2012.
  5. "Meet Stewart McPherson | Redfern Natural History". www.redfernnaturalhistory.com. Archived from the original on 21 January 2014.
  6. "Pitcher Plants of the Old World - An Interview with Stewart McPherson - The Hoopoe". blog.nhbs.com. Archived from the original on 3 October 2015.
  7. "BBC Four - Britain's Treasure Islands - Episode guide". BBC. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  8. "Home – Britain Treasure Island". Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  9. Rice, B. 2012. Book review. Carnivorous Plant Newsletter 41(2): 83–87.
  10. 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
  11. Bond, D. 2008. Lost Worlds of the Guiana Highlands. Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc. 89: 14–15.
  12. 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
  13. McPherson, S. 2006. "New carnivorous plant publication and conservation project" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 July 2011. Victorian Carnivorous Plant Society Inc. 81: 6–8.
  14. International Plant Names Index.  S.McPherson.
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