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

• Introduction to Earth and Geographic Systems (ES 1101)
• Introduction to Meteorology (ES 1300)
• Ecosystem Science (ENV 2100)
• GIS for Environment and Health (ES 3210)

Plant Physiology - Special Topics in Biology (BIO 4913)

Susan Rutherford completed her doctorate in Biological Sciences at UNSW (Australia). 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 a Jinshan Distinguished Young Professor at Jiangsu University where she worked on invasive plant species, including 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 serves as an Associate Editor for American Journal of Botany. Additionally, she has presented her research at many international conferences (e.g., International Botanical Congress, Ecological Society of Australia, European Conference of Tropical Ecology, and WILEY 1st Symposium on Ecology and Evolution under Global Change). She collaborates with researchers and experts from different parts of the world on a range of projects.

Grants and Awards

• Evolutionary processes of introduced trees in new habitats under environmental change. National Natural Science Foundation China RFIS II Grant
• Rapidly evolving invasive plants: using genomics to unravel the evolutionary history and invasion mechanisms of Eucalyptus. National Natural Science Foundation China Youth Grant
• Jiangsu University Research Foundation Fund
• Prize for the Best Student Paper in the journal Australian Systematic Botany                                                                                     

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

• Noel C.W. Beadle Honours Scholarship                                                                               

Noel C.W. Beadle Prize in Botany       

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 species and species complexes 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.

Cook LG, Crisp MD, Albrecht DE, Andrew RL, Bayly MJ, Bean AR, Biffin E, Bruhl JJ, Brown GK, Cantrill DJ, Conran JG, Crayn DM, Cuff N, Jobson PC, Ladiges PY, McLay TGB, Murphy DJ, Nge FJ, Rutherford S et al. (2025) Eucalyptus was not the problem: A response to “The genus problem–Eucalyptus as a model system for minimising taxonomic disruption” by Nicolle & al. Taxon 74, 507–514.

 Wan JSH, Bonser SP, Pang CK, Fazlioglu F, Rutherford S* (2024) Adaptive responses to living in stressful habitats: Do invasive and native plant populations use different strategies? Ecology Letters 27, e14419 

Addi YW, Ren ZX, Rutherford S, Ding XY, Guo CA, Zhang X, Zhang S, Liao H, Wang Y (2024) Ethnobotanical study on medicinal plants used by the Yi people in Xiaoliangshan, Yunnan Province, SW China. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 323, 117683

Rutherford S*, Rossetto M, Bragg JG, Wan JSH (2023) Where to draw the boundaries? Using landscape genomics to disentangle the scribbly gum species complex. American Journal of Botany 110, e16245

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.