Dr Tin Hang (Henry) Hung 洪天恒 (2017, DPhil Bioscience), a former DPhil Radcliffe Scholar in Plant Sciences, has been awarded the Irene Manton Prize by The Linnean Society for his work on rosewoods while he was at Univ.

He won the prize for his thesis “Ecological genomics and adaptation of rosewoods Dalbergia cochinchinensis and D. oliveri for conservation and restoration”. The thesis studies two threatened rosewood species which are illegally exploited for their valuable timber in the Greater Mekong Subregion, becoming the world’s most trafficked wild product between 2005 and 2014. The landscape genomic analysis of this outstanding thesis was one of the very first studies of adaptive genetic variation in tropical endangered tree species. Cutting-edge technologies were used to assemble the genomes and genotype more than 700 trees, predicting their fates under climate change. Henry’s work could have an enormous impact on the conservation of these critically endangered species.

The Irene Manton Prize is awarded for the best thesis in botany examined for a doctorate of philosophy. It is open to candidates whose research has been carried out whilst registered at any UK institution.

Published: 15 April 2024

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