Roberta Ann Townsend
Roberta Ann Townsend (born 1954) is an Australian botanist, phycologist and archivist. She is also known as a plant collector under the name Roberta Ann Cowan.
Life
Townsend was born in 1954 in Melbourne, Victoria. She completed a BSc (hons) in 1976 at the University of Melbourne.[1] She later graduated from the University of Sydney in with a PhD for her thesis "The Sporolithaceae : its place in the Florideophycidae" in 1995.[2]
In 1994 Townsend's interest in researching algae led her to edit the Australian Marine Algal Name Index.[1]
She married American botanist Richard Sumner Cowan in 1986. Together they collected many plant species.[1]
During 2002 and 2003 she served as the Australian Botanical Liaison Officer at the Royal Botanic Gardens in London, England.[3]
As of 2023 Townsend is working at the Western Australian Herbarium on coralline algae.[1]
References
- ^ a b c d "Cowan, Roberta Ann". Council of Heads of Australian Herbaria. Retrieved 2025-02-13.
- ^ Cowan, R. (Roberta) (1995), The Sporolithaceae : its place in the Florideophycidae, retrieved 13 February 2025
- ^ George, Alex (May 2024). "The Australian Botanical Liaison Officer (ABLO) scheme at Kew, 1937–2009". Biologue. 33 (3) – via Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water.
- ^ International Plant Names Index. R.A.Towns.