Dr Jo Birch: Humans of BioSciences

Meet Jo Birch, lecturer in the Plant Systematic Research Group and Manager of the University of Melbourne Herbarium whose favourite place to be is outdoors.

Who are you and what's your role in BioSciences?

I’m from New Zealand originally; I grew up in Wellington. As an adult, I’ve spent a lot of time living elsewhere, including the UK and the US. I feel really lucky that Australia is now my home! I’ve always loved to spend time in native vegetation exploring the incredible diversity that is found there; I find the adaptations of native plants to local climate and soil conditions fascinating. My favourite vegetation in Australia is cool-temperate rainforest; I think growing up in New Zealand I got a little too used to being cold and (frequently) being rained on!

I am a lecturer in BioSciences. My position is an academic specialist position, which means I’m lucky enough to teach, conduct research, and manage The University of Melbourne Herbarium in the School of BioSciences. My research lab is part of the Plant Systematic Research Group, whose research focuses on describing and understanding the evolution of the Australian flora (plants) and fauna (fungi).

three people looking into a microscope

Tell us about the day-to-day job of being a Herbarium Curator

The University of Melbourne Herbarium holds around 150,000 dried, preserved plant (including algae) and fungi specimens that have been collected by staff and students of the University. The specimens primarily document native biodiversity and were collected from all over Australia (and a smaller number, globally). The oldest plant specimen in the collection was collected in 1770 and the newest was collected in 2020!

It’s my job to ensure these specimens are available for university and public use and to train herbarium users (including students) in the protocols of specimen collection, curation, and data management. I coordinate a group of about 12 student volunteers and interns each semester who work in the collection and are instrumental in digitising (specimen data and images) our collection. Digital data from our herbarium specimens are in demand (at online.herbarium.unimelb.edu.au); 16,528 data records have been downloaded this month and 1.6 million data records have been downloaded in the last 12 months for use in research, conservation, and education!

What problems are you trying to solve with your research?

My research focuses on understanding native Australasian plant biodiversity. In my lab, my students and I reconstruct the tree of life for native Australasian lineages, using genetic and genomic data. I’m interested in identifying what traits have enabled these Australian taxa to adapt to changing climatic conditions and habitat availability over evolutionary time.

Jo in the wild with papers and specimines People are typically surprised to learn that not all native plant species have been described in the scientific literature. As a result, their distributions are uncertain and populations or entire species could inadvertently be lost as a result of fires or habitat conversion. I also use morphological and genetic data to distinguish species, so that they can be accurately identified in the field and so that their distributions are known.

What do you enjoy doing outside of science?

Travelling, camping, cycling, and hiking! Anything active that takes me outside. I’m currently exploring the joy of caravanning as my partner and I bought a caravan last year so we could easily holiday with our young kids. This iconic Aussie pastime has opened up a world of possibilities for our travel!

Jo hiking in New Zealand, behind her is large green mountains