Mary Morgan-Richards


Mary Morgan-Richards is a New Zealand biologist, and as of 2019 is a full professor at the Massey University.

Academic career

In 1995, Morgan-Richard's completed a PhD thesis titled 'Weta Karyotypes: the Systematic Significance of Their Variation' at the Victoria University of Wellington. Between 1996 and 2003, she worked at the University of St Andrews, University of Otago, the Natural History Museum, London, and the University of Canterbury successively. In 2005 Morgan-Richards moved to the Massey University, rising to full professor in 2018.

Research

Morgan-Richard's research has focused on topics in evolutionary biology such as speciation and hybridisation, as well as conservation biology, using population genetics, and phylogenetic methods.
Native New Zealand invertebrates including wētā, stick insects, and snails are often the subject of her research. She has scientifically described multiple species of wētā.
Morgan-Richard's phylogenetic research has also focused on birds and their parasites.

Taxa named in Morgan-Richard's honour