Soejatmi Dransfield facts for kids

Soejatmi Dransfield, born in 1939, is a British plant expert who grew up in Indonesia. She is a taxonomist, which means she studies how to classify living things. Her special focus is on bamboo plants. Today, she is an honorary research fellow at the famous Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, UK.

Her Early Life

Soejatmi Soenarko was born in a place called Nganjuk, Indonesia, in 1939.

Her Education

Dransfield first studied Plant Taxonomy at the Academy of Agriculture in Ciawi, Bogor, Indonesia. Later, in 1975, she earned her PhD in biology from the University of Reading in the UK. Her PhD research was about a type of grass called Cymbopogon.

Her Career in Botany

Starting Her Work in Indonesia

Dransfield began her career at the Herbarium Bogoriense in Bogor, Indonesia. A herbarium is like a library for dried plant specimens. After finishing her PhD, she returned to Bogor and continued her important work on bamboos.

Moving to the UK for Research

In 1978, she moved to the UK. There, she kept researching bamboo taxonomy. This included figuring out how to group different types of bamboos from the Old World tropical areas. She wrote about bamboos found in places like Malaysia, Thailand, and Madagascar.

Recognition for Her Bamboo Work

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, recognized her amazing work on bamboos by making her an honorary research fellow. This was a big honor! She traveled a lot with her husband, John Dransfield, visiting South East Asia and Madagascar. They shared their bamboo research at a meeting in Jakarta about plant resources in South East Asia.

Discovering New Bamboo Species

Dransfield's hard work led to her finding and describing 42 new types of erect bamboo species. In 1993 and 1994, she collected bamboo samples from Luzon in the Philippines. These samples were from bamboo types called Schizostachyum and Dinochloa. She used them to study, update, and publish new articles. This was part of a three-year project to create a guide for identifying bamboos in the Philippines. It also helped collect materials for classifying bamboos and updating their names.

Research at Kew Herbarium

At the Kew Herbarium, Dransfield mainly studies bamboos from the paleotropical regions. She worked with other botanists to identify 60 bamboo species. They carefully studied bamboo trunks, leaves, and shoots using a special computer program.

A Bamboo Genus Named After Her

As a tribute to her important contributions, a whole group of bamboos was named after her. This bamboo genus, found in Malaya and Thailand, is called Soejatmia.

She married Dr John Dransfield in Malaysia in 1977.

Books and Publications

Soejatmi Dransfield has written many scientific articles and books about bamboos. Her work helps other scientists and people learn more about these fascinating plants. Some of her books include:

• The Bamboos of Sabah
• Plant Resources of South-East Asia: Bamboos. no 7

See also

In Spanish: Soejatmi Dransfield para niños