Bill Baker

Brand spanking new flowering plant tree of life! Hot off the press @Nature. Huge thanks to @KewScience and all 279 co-authors for tireless graft on this for past 8 years. We hope you all like it! #angiosperms353 nature.com/articles/s4158…

Favorite sign I saw at San Francisco #HandsOff2025

What do #rattan #palms tell us about the origin of #rainforest #biodiversity in tropical #Asia? Check out latest @ScienceMagazine for the answers! @KewScience @BenKuhnhaeuser @Chomicki_G @w_eiserhardt Free link: science.org/stoken/author-…

Our latest research in @ScienceMagazine explores how island geography 🌏🏝️ shaped the evolution of rattan palms 🌿🌴 in tropical Asia. 🔓 Read the paper using this free-access link: science.org/stoken/author-… #Biodiversity #Evolution #Biogeography @BillJBaker @Chomicki_G

🌿 Read the background story of our latest paper on the Origins of Asian rainforest diversity in #Science here🌏📖: kew.org/read-and-watch… 🌴🔬 @BillJBaker @Chomicki_G @JunYing @RowanSchley @w_eiserhardt

Rediscovered: the forgotten palms of Gunung Gamalama 🦙, an active Indonesian volcano 🌴🌋 palms.org/wp-content/upl… @KewScience @IPS_PalmSociety

📖 Read more here: science.org/doi/10.1126/sc… @BillJBaker @Chomicki_G @JunYing @RowanSchley @w_eiserhardt

4️⃣ In brief: 🔥 Radiators generate and distribute diversity. 🐣 Incubators produce diversity in isolation. 🔗 Corridors connect neighboring regions. 🗂️ Accumulators acquire diversity generated elsewhere.

3️⃣ 🏝️The islands Java, Maluku & Sumatra act as Corridors, 🔗connecting species across the region. Meanwhile, 🦘 Australia, 🇮🇳 India and 🇵🇭 the Philippines are Accumulators, collecting diversity from elsewhere! 🌿 #IslandBiogeography

2️⃣ 🔥 The 🏝️ island Borneo is a Radiator—it generates diversity and spreads it around! 🌿 Meanwhile, 🌏 Southeast Asia and the 🏝️ islands New Guinea & Sulawesi are 🥚Incubators, evolving new species in isolation. #TropicalBiology

5️⃣ Why does this matter? 🤔 The unique island geography of the Asian tropics 🌏 helps drive its incredible biodiversity. Understanding these patterns is key to conservation and understanding the origins of life on Earth! 🧬🌱 #Ecology #Conservation

1️⃣ 🌍 Fresh out in #Science! The Asian tropics are among the most biodiverse places on Earth, but where does all that diversity come from? 🤔🔍 We used 🌴 phylogenomics and 🦴 new fossils to unravel the roles of different regions in generating and distributing species! #Evolution

LAE Herbarium is packed with gems! Day 1 of some Primulaceae/Myrsinaceae taxonomy (traditional fam used here). How it slowly started, progressed (piles of unnamed specimens) and how it ended (piles with names or to be named). Till tomorrow… #taxonomy #NewGuinea

My lab is keen on recruiting grad students for 2025 (fully funded positions! Living wage!) on topics related to plant phylogenomics, macroevolution, and adaptation to dry environments: See: edelinegagnon.wixsite.com/gagnon-lab-1..… Job Details: docs.google.com/document/d/1...

Lots of groovy plants in this great paper...Annonaceae, Winteraceae, Lauraceae, Aristolochiaceae, Himantandraceae...the whole gang is here!

A new classification of #magnoliids now out in American Journal of Botany @KewScience @hsauquet_bgsyd @ajhelmstetter @FelixForest1 bsapubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.10…

The Bentham-Moxon Trust is recruiting a part-time Finance and Administration Manager. This is a hybrid role with the office based at @kewgardens See here for more information: careers.kew.org/vacancy/bentha…

Palm plantations cannot replace forests, Mr. President thejakartapost.com/opinion/2025/0…

Why do plant diversity and distribution matter? This Special Collection explores the patterns and processes of plant diversity and distribution, highlights risks to plant diversity, and informs future agendas for research and conservation: nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/hub/global-pla… @antonelli_lab

Congratulations to Prof Charlie Heatubun! @BalitbangdaPap1 @UKinIndonesia

We are advertising two fabulous jobs at the Cambridge University Herbarium. A Collections Manager (5 year fixed term) and a Collections & Digitisation Assistant (4 years fixed term). Incredible collection including most of Voyage of the Beagle material. Job links in thread below.