B.S. in Botany and Ecosystem Management
University of New England (UNE), Armidale

B.S. with Honours in Botany (Plant Physiology)
University of New England (UNE), Armidale

Ph.D. in Biological Sciences
University of New South Wales (UNSW), Sydney

Intro to Earth and Geo Systems (with Laboratory)

Intro to Meteorology (with Laboratory)

GIS in Geoscience

Susan Rutherford completed her doctorate in Biological Sciences at UNSW (Australia) in 2017. For her PhD, she examined speciation mechanisms in closely related eucalypts. She then worked on the landscape genomics of rare and widespread native Australian plants at the Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney. From 2019-2023, she was employed as Jinshan Distinguished Young Professor at Jiangsu University, where she worked on many projects focusing on invasive plant species in China. This includes the ecology and population genomics of introduced Eucalyptus in China. In 2023, Susan joined the Environmental Science Faculty at Wenzhou-Kean University as an assistant professor. She has published over 30 papers in reputable international journals and served as a guest editor for Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution. Also, she has presented her research at many international conferences (e.g., Ecological Society of Australia, European Conference of Tropical Ecology, Eucalypt Genetics 2019), and given a keynote presentation at the Global Change and Invasion Biology Conference, as well as invited talks at the Chinese Academy of Sciences (e.g., Wuhan Botanic Garden, Nanjing Botanic Garden and Kunming Institute of Botany) and WILEY 1st Symposium on Ecology and Evolution under Global Change. She continues to collaborate with researchers and experts from different parts of the world on a range of projects.

Grants and Awards

Rapidly evolving invasive plants: using genomics to unravel the evolutionary history and invasion mechanisms of Eucalyptus. National Natural Science Foundation China, 32001087 (2021)

Jiangsu University Research Foundation Fund (Jiangsu University), 20JDG055 (2020)

Prize for the Best Student Paper in the journal Australian Systematic Botany (2015) 

Adaptation and diversity of eucalypts in the Greater Blue Mountains: conservation of the green ashes, Bjarne K. Dahl Trust Grant (2013) 

Australian Post-graduate Award (APA), UNSW (2012)

Noel C.W. Beadle Honours Scholarship (2007) 

Noel C.W. Beadle Prize in Botany (2006)

Susan is passionate about conserving biodiversity and is fascinated by the processes and patterns underlying plant evolution and speciation. Her research interests include: (1) Landscape genomics of closely related native species and species complexes to examine centers of genetic diversity and hybridization hotspots to better understand species evolution and distribution across the landscape, (2) Response of invasive weeds to new habitats in their introduced ranges using interdisciplinary approaches (e.g., genomics, greenhouse experiments, field trait data, and environmental niche modelling), (3) Evolutionary processes of rare and threatened species to provide insights for their conservation management.

Rutherford S*, Rossetto M, Bragg JG, Wan JSH (accepted article) Where to draw the boundaries? Using landscape genomics to disentangle the scribbly gum species complex. American Journal of Botany.

Wilson T, Rutherford S, Yap JY, Douglas S, Lee E, Rossetto M (2023) Eucalyptus cryptica (Myrtaceae): a critically endangered new species. Australian Systematic Botany 36, 386–400.

Gul F, Khan IU, Rutherford S, Dai ZC, Li G, Du DL (2023) Plant growth promoting rhizobacteria and biochar production from Parthenium hysterophorus enhance seed germination and productivity in barley under drought stress. Frontiers in Plant Science 14, 1175097.

Liu H, Rutherford S*, Wan JSH, Liu JH, Zhang J, Afzal MR, Du D, Rossetto M (2023) Variation in leaf functional and plant defense traits of introduced Eucalyptus species across environmental gradients in their new range in southern China. Forests 14 (5), 936.

Javed Q, Sun JF, Rutherford S, Li J, Iqbal B, Xiang Y, Ren GQ, He F, Pan LX, Bo YW, Khattak WA, Du DL (2023) Soil pollution and the invasion of congener Sphagneticola in crop lands. Journal of Environmental Management 340, 118013.

Ren GQ, Du YZ, Yang B, Wang JJ, Cui MM, Dai ZC, Adomako MO, Rutherford S*, Du DL (2023) Influence of precipitation dynamics on plant invasions: response of alligator weed (Alternanthera philoxeroides) and co-occurring native species to varying water availability across plant communities. Biological Invasions 25, 519–532.

Yang B, Cui M, Dai Z, Li J, Yu H, Fan X, Rutherford S*, Du DL (2023) Non-additive effects of environmental factors on growth and physiology of invasive Solidago canadensis and a co-occurring native species (Artemisia argyi). Plants 12, 128.

Rutherford S*, Wilson TC, Yap JYS, Lee E, Errington G, Rossetto M (2022) Evolutionary processes in an undescribed eucalypt: implications for the translocation of a critically endangered species. Annals of Botany 130, 491–508.

He YH, Rutherford S, Javed Q, Wan JSH, Ren GQ, Hu WJ, Xiang Y, Zhang YR, Sun JF, Du DL (2022) Mixed litter and incubation sites drive non-additive responses in seed germination and seedling growth of lettuce. Biochemical Systematics and Ecology 105, 104479.

Yang B, Cui MM, Du YZ, Ren GQ, Li J, Wang CY, Li GL, Dai ZC, Rutherford S, Wan JSH, Du DL (2022) Influence of multiple global change drivers on plant invasion: additive effects are uncommon. Frontiers in Plant Science 13, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2022.1020621

Liu JH, Wan JSH, Rutherford S, Namazi A, Liu H, Dai ZC, Sun JF, Sun XQ, Du DL (2022) Are iron rich calcareous mine sites easily invaded by invasive plant species? Diversity 14, 986.

Dai ZC, Zhu B, Wan JSH, Rutherford S* (2022) Editorial: Global Changes and Plant Invasions. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 10: 845816.

Qi SS, Manoharan B, Dhandapani V, Jegadeesan S, Rutherford S, Wan JSH, Huang P, Dai ZC, Du DL (2022) Pathogen resistance in Sphagneticola trilobata (Singapore Daisy): Molecular mechanisms and differentially expressed genes in response to disease from a widespread fungus. Genetica 150, 13–26.

Qi SS1, Rutherford S¹, He F, Dong B, Zhu B, Dai, ZC, Fu WG, Mao H, Du DL (2022) Opposing effects of plant growth regulators via clonal integration on apical and basal performance in alligator weed. Journal of Plant Ecology 15, 650–662.

Sun JF1, Rutherford S¹, Saif Ullah M, Ullah I, Javed Q, Rasool G, Ajmal M, Azeem A, Junaid Nazir M, Du DL (2022) Plant-soil feedback during biological invasions: effect of litter decomposition from an invasive plant (Sphagneticola trilobata) on its native congener (S. calendulacea). Journal of Plant Ecology 15, 610–624.

Zhang HY1, Rutherford S¹, Huang P, Qi SS, Dai ZC, Ren GQ, Yang B, Du DL (2022) Transcriptome profiling of Arabidopsis thaliana roots in response to allelopathic effects of Conyza canadensis. Ecotoxicology 31, 1–11.

Wilde BC, Rutherford S, Yap JYS, Rossetto M (2021) Allele surfing and Holocene expansion of an Australian Fig. Diversity 13, 250.

Ullah MS, Sun JF, Rutherford S, Ullah I, Javed Q, Rasool G, Ajmal M, Du DL (2021) Evaluation of the allelopathic effects of leachate from an invasive species (Wedelia trilobata) on its own growth and performance and those of a native congener (W. chinensis). Biological Invasions 23, 3135–3149.

Rutherford S*, Wan JSH, Cohen JM, Benson D, Rossetto M (2021) Looks can be deceiving – speciation dynamics in co-distributed Angophora species (Myrtaceae) in a varying landscape. Evolution 75, 310–329.

Rossetto M, Yap JY, Bain D, Bragg J, Hogbin P, Lemmon J, Gallagher R, Rutherford S, Summerell B, Wilson TC (2021) A conservation genomics workflow to guide practical management actions. Global Ecology and Conservation 26, e01492.

Dai ZC, Wan LY, Qi SS, Rutherford S, Ren GQ, Wan JSH, Du DL (2020) Synergistic factors among hypotheses in the invasion process: A road map within a timeline. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Evolution and Systematics 47, 125575.

Griffith SJ, Rutherford S (2020) Flowering of Blandfordia grandiflora (Christmas bells) in response to fire frequency and temperature. Australian Journal of Botany 68, 449–457.

Wilde BC, Rutherford S, van der Merwe M, Murray M, Rossetto M (2020) First example of hybridisation between two Australian figs (Moraceae). Australian Systematic Botany 33, 436–445.

Rutherford S* (2020) Insights into speciation and species delimitation in closely related Eucalyptus species using an interdisciplinary approach. Australian Systematic Botany 33, 110–127.

Manoharan B, Qi SS, Dhandapani V, Chen Q, Rutherford S, Wan JSH, Jegadeesan S, Yang HY, Li Q, Li J, Dai ZC, Du DL (2019) Gene expression profiling reveals enhanced defense responses in an invasive weed compared to its native congener during pathogenesis. International Journal of Molecular Sciences 20, 4916.

Rutherford S*, van der Merwe M, Wilson PG, Kooyman RM, Rossetto M (2019) Managing the risk of genetic swamping in a rare and restricted tree. Conservation Genetics 20, 1113–1131.

Wan JSH, Rutherford S, Bonser SP (2019) The Invasion Triangle in the range dynamics of invasive species following successful establishment. Evolutionary Ecology 33, 299–312.

Rutherford S*, Rossetto M, Bragg JG, McPherson H, Benson D, Bonser SP, Wilson PG (2018) Speciation in the presence of gene flow: population genomics of closely related and diverging Eucalyptus species. Heredity 121, 126–141.

Rutherford S*, Bonser SP, Wilson PG, Rossetto M (2017) Seedling response to environmental variability: the relationship between phenotypic plasticity and evolutionary history in closely related Eucalyptus species. American Journal of Botany 104, 840–857.

Rutherford S*, Wilson PG, Rossetto M, Bonser SP (2016) Phylogenomics of the green ash eucalypts: a tale of reticulate evolution and misidentification. Australian Systematic Botany 28, 326–354.

Griffith SJ, Rutherford S, Clarke KL, Warwick NWM (2015) Water relations of wallum species in contrasting groundwater habitats of Pleistocene beach ridge barriers on the lower north coast of New South Wales. Australian Journal of Botany 63, 618–630.

Rutherford S, Griffith SJ, Warwick NWM (2013) Water relations of selected wallum species in dry sclerophyll woodland on the lower North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. Australian Journal of Botany 61, 254–265.