Dr Barbara Mackinder

Floristic Researcher

Barbara has worked on the classification and identification of legumes in Floras since 1985.

She graduated with a Distinction from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh’s MSc in Biodiversity and Taxonomy of Plants in1999. Following a 5 year study of tropical African legumes she discovered 5 new and endangered tropical tree species. Barbara was awarded a PhD from the University of Edinburgh in 2006.

In 2008, she joined CMEP to write the account of the Legume Family for the Flora of Arabia. This will describe the estimated 400 species of legumes recorded from the Arabian Peninsula and Socotra. This group includes many genera of economic importance in the region such as Acacia.

In addition to the Middle East Barbara has extensive experience in tropical Africa. Barbara has advised on conservation planning in Sierra Leone, Cameroon and Congo Brazzaville. She has conducted numerous environmental impact surveys and evaluations of proposed protected areas.

Since September 2009, Barbara has been supervising Faten Filimban.