Matthew Jebb undertook his primary degree and D.Phil at Oxford University. His Ph.D. looked at the taxonomy and tuber morphology of the rubiaceous ant-plants. Following a 5 year appointment as Director of the Christensen Research Institute at Madang, Papua New Guinea, Matthew took up a 2 year post-doc position at Trinity College Dublin. This work worked involved preparation of a revision of the Araliaceae for the Flora of Thailand project. Matthew has revised the family Nepenthaceae for Flora Malesiana.