Dr Sandy Hetherington

UKRI Future Leaders Fellow

Biography

Background

Dr Alexander (Sandy) J. Hetherington is an evolutionary palaeobiologist interested in how plants evolved and transformed the Earth. He works at the interface between the Life and Earth Sciences taking an interdisciplinary ‘Molecular Palaeobotany’ approach, combining studies of fossil plants with investigation of developmental and genetic networks in living species. It is this interdisciplinary approach that distinguishes his research and why his lab group is termed the “The Molecular Palaeobotany and Evolution Group”.

2024-Present Research Associate, Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh 

2024-Present Senior Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh 

2020-Present Research Associate, National Museums Scotland 

2020-Present UKRI Future Leaders Fellow, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh 

2017-2020 Junior Research Fellow, Magdalen College, University of Oxford 

2017 Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford 

Qualifications

2012–17 DPhil Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford 

2008–12 MSci Geology, University of Bristol 

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Research summary

During the past 500 million years land plants have evolved a staggering variety of diverse forms and intricate functions that have enabled them to colonise and transform the Earth. The aim of my research is to understand the key innovations that enabled the conquest of the land by plants. In my group The Molecular Palaeobotany and Evolution Group we make the most of all available data to shed light on the origin and evolution of key innovations during plant evolution including evidence from fossils, studies of development from living species and comparative omics approaches. Using this interdisciplinary approach can shed light on the evolution of land plants in a way that would not be possible from isolated approaches alone.

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