Plant and Fungal Taxonomy, Diversity and Conservation

Entry requirements

A 2:1 or above at undergraduate level in Biology or a relevant natural sciences subject.

Applicants with a good 2:2 degree may be considered on an individual basis.

Months of entry

September

Course content

Skilled scientists in plant and fungal taxonomy are in short supply – and only a small percentage of the planet’s biodiversity has been formally described by science. Study MSc Plant and Fungal Taxonomy, Diversity and Conservation at Queen Mary and you’ll join a new generation of scientists ready to describe, understand and conserve biodiversity for years to come.

The MSc Plant and Fungal Taxonomy, Diversity and Conservation at Queen Mary will give you the cross-disciplinary skills and knowledge you need to describe, understand and conserve biodiversity. The course will teach you plant and fungal identification skills, molecular systematics, evolutionary biology, as well as conservation policy, theory and practice.

You’ll be taught by world-leading experts, internationally recognised for their cutting-edge research in plant and fungal sciences. You’ll also learn how to apply new technologies to answer fundamental questions about the diversity of plant and fungal life on Earth, how it evolved and how we can best conserve it.

During the course you will visit conservation projects and experience rare exotic plants during a field trip to Madagascar. You’ll get an introduction to practical field work, including botanical surveys and flowering plant identification and how they can be applied to solving practical problems of conservation management as well as biodiversity research.

The course is taught by botanists from the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, the Kew Madagascar Conservation Centre (KMCC) in Antananarivo and local conservationists and researchers from collaborating institutions. Several site visits to conservation projects and some taught case studies will give an overview of conservation in Madagascar.