Dr Cicely Marshall

Dr Cicely Marshall is a botanist, ecologist and conservationist specializing in the rainforest flora of west Africa, and Britain’s plants and habitats. She combines fieldwork and plant identification with biogeographic, ecological, phylogenetic and modelling methods to fill ecological knowledge gaps and translate this knowledge for business and government. 

After a BA (MA Oxon) in Biological Sciences at the University of Oxford and MA in Environmental Studies at Brown University (USA), she completed her doctorate at the Department of Plant Sciences of Oxford University. She held a Research Fellowship at King’s College, University of Cambridge until 2025, where she is now an Associate of the Senior Combination Room. She is Course Director for Cambridge’s UGCert in Ecology and Conservation, and retains affiliations with the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Cambridge, and the University of Cambridge Conservation Research Institute (UCCRI). She is a Research Fellow with the Countryside & Community Research Institute in Cheltenham, University of Gloucestershire.Cicely’s work seeks to bring about better outcomes for people and nature during economic development. 

Alongside her academic research and teaching, Cicely works as a freelance ecological consultant specialising in botanic and habitat assessment in the UK and west Africa. She uses her dual perspective as academic and practioner to inspire students and guide their professional development.