Ruth Kiew (née Evans 14 April 1946 – 20 November 2025) was a Britishbotanist focused on peninsular Malaysia and Borneo.^[1][2] Kiew was the first woman to be awarded the David Fairchild Medal for plant exploration, by theNational Tropical Botanical Garden, recognising her as "one of the world's great experts on tropicalbegonias" in 2002.^[3]

Ruth Evans was born in Cambridge in 1946, as the daughter of two botanists both involved withCambridge University, JM andClifford Evans. Cambridge was the last British university to permit women to get a standard graduation, which occurred two years after Ruth Evans' birth, and it had inhibited her mother's (JM Evans) academic advancement. Consequently JM Evans, who became a biology teacher, was determined that her daughter should get the same opportunities that were open to male students. Ruth Evans took an undergraduate degree in psychology, which she later found to be "completely unscientific", before getting postgraduate qualifications in botany, and advancing to a doctorate in tropical plant taxonomy in 1972 under supervisorProfessor E. J. H. Corner,^[1] with the requirement to complete a one year long fieldwork in the tropics.^[1][4]

With the encouragement of her father and her supervisor, Kiew started her fieldwork in Malaysia in 1969 under aLeverhulme scholarship.^[4] She intended to stay for a year but ended up spending most of the rest of her life there, or in Singapore. She was an expeditionary researcher onherbaceous plants, at a time when it was not an area of interest to many other scientists.^[1][4] She made at least two such expeditions a year, typically into Peninsular Malaysia or Borneo. Kiew described approximately 150 species, including Borneo's blue-cappedthismia (Thismia goodii), and a perennial herb (Ridleyandra chuana),^[5] found only in two small areas of Peninsular Malaysia's mountainous forests. This was one of fiveRidleyandra species identified by Kiew.^[1][6] When later in 2002 she was awarded the David Fairchild medal by the National Tropical Botanical Garden, the equivalent ofNobel Prize in botany,^[2] the directorPaul Cox called her the botanical equivalent ofDian Fossey: "[Dr Kiew] is an expeditionary scientist who seeks to protect the biodiversity of the planet and conserve plants for generations to come."^[1]

In 1976, Kiew became a lecturer atUniversity of Putra Malaysia, and at one point in time had to lecture to 1040 Mixed Diploma students simultaneously.^[4] She was able to lecture in Malay to her students, and still maintained her fieldwork expeditions,^[1] often together with her husband who studies frogs.^[4]

From 1997 to 2005, Kiew served as the keeper of the herbarium of theSingapore Botanic Gardens, during which time 6,000 herbarium types were logged and recorded.^[1][4] The herbarium, which was in poor condition and did not have air conditioning before Kiew's arrival, saw major upgrades under her administration. She also conducted extensive sampling works for the herbarium inSabah andSarawak, often in collaboration with the forestry departments in those two states.^[4]

In 2006, Kiew was recruited by Saw Leng Guan to join the editorial team of the book seriesFlora of Peninsular Malaysia, a series published by theForest Research Institute Malaysia (FRIM). She was involved in the editing ofSeries I: Ferns and Lycophytes andSeries II: Seed Plants. Kiew also worked as an editor for Volume Seven of theTree Flora of Sabah and Sarawak.^[4] She wrote natural history books for children to encourage their interest in the subject.^[1]

In 2013, Kiew together with a group of FRIM researchers explored the limestone hills inMerapoh, which are at risk of development due to their unprotected status, and found numerous rare and endemic plants, including one previously undescribed species. Some of these finds includePararuellia sumatrana var.ridleyi,Rhynchoglossum obliqua,Pandanus irregularis,Spelaeanthus chinii,Zippelia begoniifolius,Monophyllaea musangensis,Tridynamia megalantha,Calciphilopteris alleniae, andCleisostoma complicatum.^[7]

Soon after arriving in Malaysia in 1969 she met her future husband, a zoologist. They later divorced but she retained Kiew as her surname. She was the mother of a son and daughter.^[1][2] She died on 20 November 2025, at the age of 79.^[1][4]

• Begonias of Peninsular Malaysia (2005)^[4]ISBN 983-812-086-3
• A Guide to Begonias in Borneo (2015)^[4]ISBN 978-983-812-160-6
• Batu Caves: Malaysia's Majestic Limestone Icon (2020)ISBN 978-967-179-661-0
• Flowers of Fraser’s Hill, Peninsular Malaysia (2026)ISBN 978-983-812-221-4

• 1946 births
• 2025 deaths
• 20th-century British botanists
• British women botanists
• 20th-century British women scientists
• 21st-century British botanists
• 21st-century British women scientists

• Articles using duplicate arguments in template calls
• CS1 Chinese-language sources (zh)
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from November 2025
• Pages where birth or death is being automatically determined
• Articles with hCards