Rate My Professor Cicely Marshall

Dr Cicely Marshall is a botanist, ecologist and conservationist affiliated with the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Cambridge. She holds a BA (MA Oxon) in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford, an MA in Environmental Studies from Brown University, and a DPhil from the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of Oxford. Her career includes a Research Fellowship at King’s College, University of Cambridge until 2025, after which she became an Associate of the Senior Combination Room there. She serves as Course Director for Cambridge’s UGCert in Ecology and Conservation and maintains affiliations with the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute as well as the Countryside & Community Research Institute at the University of Gloucestershire.

Marshall’s research focuses on combining fieldwork, plant identification, biogeographic, ecological, phylogenetic and modelling methods to address knowledge gaps in tropical African flora and British plant habitats, with applications for conservation, economic development and biodiversity policy. Key projects have examined biodiversity in oil palm systems in Liberia, the impacts of England’s statutory biodiversity metric on plants, birds and butterflies, rewilding outcomes using DNA metabarcoding, elm tree genetic diversity, and bioquality hotspots in tropical African flora. Her publications include peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Conservation Biology, Journal of Applied Ecology, Current Biology and Ecology and Evolution, along with books on important plants of northern Nimba County, Liberia, and the impacts of logging on tropical rainforests. She has contributed to reports, data publications and conference presentations on topics including rapid botanic surveys, biodiversity credits and wildflower meadow monitoring. Marshall’s work has informed conservation assessments, legal challenges and policy evaluations in West Africa and the UK.