About

This site is in the very early stages of development- please bear with us while we begin to create pages for our new Scratchpad. Content can currently be found under 'Biblio', 'Blog entry', 'Image' and 'Page' in the menu to the left. A summary of our work to date can be read under the Page tab: Abstract for the Flora of the Guianas meeting.

Scroll down this page to read more about this Scratchpad (below: Burmannia bicolor)

The project:

The Scratchpad will provide a web presence for our project: a floristic inventory of the coastal savannas of French Guiana. The site provides background information about our project, the savannas of French Guiana, and summaries of our results. We plan to add illustrated species pages for taxa most characteristic of the savannas and some interactive keys. Our sister website - showcasing photography of the stunning flora and landscapes of the savannas - is in development, and we are preparing a checklist for the flora of the region for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

Who we are:

Dr. Piero G. Delprete: Piero is an experienced taxonomist who specialises in the coffee family,Rubiaceae, for which he is author of many floristic treatments and descriptions of species new to science. Among Piero's current work is the the treatment of Rubiaceae for the Flora de Goiás e Tocantins (Brazil), and the Flora of the Guianas. He is Head of Research at Herbier de Guyane (Herbarium of French Guiana; CAY) and is project leader for our study of the coastal savannas of French Guiana. Among Piero's other interests is the family of parasitic plants, Balanophoraceae.

Dr. Ruth E. Bone: Ruth is assistant botanist for the savannas project and was the lead author of the successful funding proposal that enabled Ruth and Gina to participate in the project (see Acknowledgements and Support). Ruth has a background in botanical horticulture, plant conservation and botany, and is currently working for the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, London, on the emonocot project (http://e-monocot.org/) where she is part of a team developing interactive keys and species pages following the World Checklist of Monocotyldeons. Ruth also has a strong interest in the flora and conservation of the Mascarene islands of the western Indian Ocean, particularly the endemic genus Badula (Myrsinoid Primulaceae).

Ms. Gina Lolli: Gina is the project photographer and web developer. Gina is a professional front-end web developer who has several years experience working in South Africa, Ireland and the UK. Gina is also passionate about photography and has an interest in botany and exploring nature. She brought her photography skills to the savannas project and is currently developing a sister website where many of her images will be displayed. In her spare time she cultivates African orchids in the genera Angraecum and Aerangis and dreams of one day having her very own "orchidarium."

Acknowledgements and Support:

Our project would not have been possible without the financial support of the National Geographic Society and the Waitt Institute for Discovery (USA) and the logisitical support of Herbier de Guyane (CAY) of the Institut de recherche pour le developpment (IRD, France).

Two members of the team (GL and REB) were supported for six months in French Guiana (March to September 2010) by National Geographic Society/ Waitt Grant No. W87-10, which enabled us to buy some of the equipment needed to photographically document the research. Consequently many of our herbarium specimens are complemented with high quality macro images that will aid identification of specimens, and help us to raise awareness of the beauty of the savannas' flora. The Grant also provided a basic subsistence stipend for these two team members and we are very grateful for this support, which enabled this project to go ahead.

In Cayenne we were hosted by Herbier de Guyane in Cayenne, run by the IRD. Herbier de Guyane is a modern and well equipped herbarium and we are very grateful to the IRD and the herbarium staff for their assistance with our work, and allowing us to use their fantastic facilities and vehicles for our field work within French Guiana. 

Scratchpads developed and conceived by (alphabetical): Ed Baker, Katherine Bouton Alice Heaton Dimitris Koureas, Laurence Livermore, Dave Roberts, Simon Rycroft, Ben Scott, Vince Smith