| Richard Bateman | |
| Alma Mater: | University of London (BSc, PhD) |
| Doctoral Advisor: | Andrew C. Scott |
| Thesis Title: | Palaeobotany and palaeoenvironments of Lower Carboniferous floras from two volcanigenic terrains in the Scottish Midland Valley |
| Thesis Url: | https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?did=2&uin=uk.bl.ethos.260949 |
| Thesis Year: | 1988 |
| Awards: | Bicentenary Medal of the Linnean Society |
Richard Mark Bateman (born 27 May 1958) is a British botanist and paleobotanist. He was awarded the Bicentenary Medal of the Linnean Society in 1994. He was awarded a DSc from University of London in 2001 for his work on plant phylogenetics and evolution, palaeobotany and palaeoenvironments.
Richard Bateman gained a BSc in Geology in 1981 from Birkbeck, University of London and earned a doctorate in Paleobiology at University of London in 1985. From 1988-1991 he was in the Department of Paleobiology at the Smithsonian Institution. From 1991-1994 he was a Senior Postdoctoral Research Fellow at University of Oxford. He was Principal Scientific Officer at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh from 1994-1996, then Head of Science at Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh from 1996-1999. He served as Keeper of Botany (i.e. Head of the Botany Department) at the Natural History Museum from 1999-2004, and was an Individual Merit researcher there from 2004-2006. He was Head of Policy for Biosciences Federation from 2006-2007. He is currently an Honorary Research Fellow at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.
He has over 300 publications which extend from evolutionary-developmental genetics and evolutionary theory through speciation and phylogenetics of orchids to anatomical palaeobotany.
He is married to the Botanist Paula Rudall.