Barbara Pickersgill


Barbara Pickersgill is a British botanist with a special interest in the domestication of crops, the genetics, taxonomy, and evolutionary biology of cultivated plants, and the preservation of crop diversity. Her 1966 dissertation for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy from Indiana University concerned the taxonomy of Capsicum chinense.
In 2005 she retired from the School of Biological Sciences at the University of Reading, to become an Honorary Research Associate. Her research projects include:
In 1993 the Linnean Society of London presented Pickersgill with the Linnean Medal for her contribution to botany.
In 2000 she was the president of the Society for Economic Botany.
On 4 August 2006 the Linnean Society of London organised a one-day conference in honour of Pickersgill.