Austin Mast

{{Short description|American botanist and academic}}

{{Infobox scientist

| name = Austin R. Mast

| workplaces = Florida State University

| alma_mater = University of Wisconsin-Madison

}}

Austin R. Mast is a research botanist. Born in 1972, he obtained a Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 2000. He is currently a professor within the Department of Biological Science at Florida State University (FSU), and has been director of FSU's Robert K. Godfrey Herbarium since August 2003.{{cite web | url = http://www.bio.fsu.edu/faculty-mast.php | title = Dr. Austin Mast | work = Faculty and Research, Department of Biological Science, Florida State University | access-date = 2007-03-22| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070407172633/http://www.bio.fsu.edu/faculty-mast.php| archive-date= 7 April 2007 | url-status= live}}

One of his main areas of research is the phylogenetics of Grevilleoideae, a subfamily of Proteaceae. In 2005 he showed the genus Banksia to be paraphyletic with respect to Dryandra,{{cite journal | author = Mast, Austin R. |author2=Eric H. Jones |author3=Shawn P. Havery | year = 2005 | volume = 18 | issue = 1 | title = An Assessment of Old and New DNA sequence evidence for the Paraphyly of Banksia with respect to Dryandra (Proteaceae) | journal = Australian Systematic Botany | pages = 75–88 | doi = 10.1071/SB04015}} Collaborating with Australian botanist Kevin Thiele, he subsequently transferred all Dryandra taxa to Banksia, publishing over 120 taxonomic names in the process.{{cite journal | author = Mast, Austin R. and Kevin Thiele | year = 2007 | title = The transfer of Dryandra R.Br. to Banksia L.f. (Proteaceae) | journal = Australian Systematic Botany | volume = 20 | pages = 63–71 | doi = 10.1071/SB06016}} The change has been adopted by the Western Australian Herbarium,{{cite web | url = http://florabase.calm.wa.gov.au/articles/dryandra-banksia/ | title = Why dryandras have changed their name | date=20 May 2008|work = FloraBase: Western Australian Flora|author=Thiele, Kevin|publisher=Department of Environment and Conservation, Western Australian Herbarium | access-date = 2009-12-16 |author-link = Kevin Thiele}} although has met with some controversy.{{cite web|url=http://www.lifescientist.com.au/article/318404/feature_blooming_controversy |title=Feature: Blooming controversy |date=14 September 2009 |work=Australian Life Scientist |author=O'neill, Graeme |publisher=IDG Communications |access-date=2009-12-16 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090925201757/http://www.lifescientist.com.au/article/318404/feature_blooming_controversy |archive-date=2009-09-25 }}

He has previously worked on the Deep South Plant Specimen Imaging Project, which created a repository of annotated high-resolution digital images of plant specimens within the East Gulf Coastal Plain, a region with a very high diversity of rare and endangered plants.{{cite web | url = http://www.physorg.com/news95344694.html | access-date = 2007-05-08 | title = Deep South Plant Specimen Imaging Project}}

{{botanist|A.R.Mast |Mast, Austin R.|inline=yes}}