Mark A. Spencer

Mark Spencer is a British forensic botanist and botanical consultant. He also monitors the changing composition of London's plantlife. He is the honorary botany curator for the Linnean Society of London.

Early life Spencer was born in 1968. He became enthusiastic about plants as a child, especially plant identification and growth habits. He was brought up in the rural setting of Warmington, Warwickshire and his family supported this interest. He disliked secondary school due to attacks and extensive bullying related to his strong opinions and homosexuality and left with few qualifications.

In the 1990s, Spencer worked in bars in Soho in London and was involved in HIV/AIDS activism around Section 28 as well as the AIDS pandemic. Spencer is also involved in recording the natural history of the urban environment of London, especially the arrival of new species, often through the international horticultural trade.

In March 2021, he was the guest on an episode of the BBC Radio 4 programme The Life Scientific.

He is also co-author of over 10 scientific publications including: Chris A. Skilbeck, Iris Lynch, Maggie Ellenby, Mark A. Spencer (2019) Achene Morphology of British and Irish Mayweeds and Chamomiles: implications for taxonomy and identification British and Irish Botany 1 (2) 128-166 Kenneth G. Johnson, Stephen J. Brooks, Phillip B. Fenberg, Adrian G. Glover, Karen E. James, Adrian M. Lister, Ellinor Michel, Mark Spencer, Jonathan A. Todd, Eugenia Valsami-Jones, Jeremy R. Young, John R. Stewart (2011) Climate Change and Biosphere Response: Unlocking the Collections Vault. BioScience 61 (2) 147-153 Mark A. Spencer, Linda M. Irvine, Charles E. Jarvis (2009) Typification of Linnaean names relevant to algal nomenclature Taxon MA Spencer, MC Vick, MW Dick (2002) Revision of Aplanopsis, Pythiopsis, and ‘subcentric’ Achlya species (Saprolegniaceae) using 18S rDNA and morphological data Mycological Research 106 (5) 549-560