People

Billy is an 18 year old botanist from Cornwall. He is most interested in arable plants, peatbog plants, and the plants that are found very rarely. Billy hopes to study biological sciences or ecology at university.

Chris Thorogood is the Deputy Director and Head of Science of the University of Oxford Botanic Garden and Arboretum, and a lecturer in biology at the University of Oxford’s Department of Plant Sciences. He's also a broadcaster, wildlife artist, botanical illustrator, and an international best-selling author of specialist field guides and popular titles.

Special Interests Wild Flowers, Grasses, Sedges, Rushes, Ferns, Trees, Orchids, Mosses, Aquatic plants and especially Dandelions and Hawkweed. o Retired NHS Biomedical Scientist o Darlington and Teesdale Naturalists’ Field Club Member o RBGE in Practical Field Botany with distinction (2011) I have completed many FSC courses, including difficult higher plants. Actively engaged in botanical recordings and research with Margaret Bradshaw in Upper Teesdale.

Jay joined the Policy Advice Team of the Forestry Commission in 2019 as a Natural Environment Advisor having worked as a District Ecologist with Forestry England (previously Forest Enterprise) from 2002 onwards in the South East England and latterly South England Forest Districts. Prior to joining Forest Enterprise, Jay worked with Scottish Natural Heritage and Surrey Wildlife Trust. Areas of expertise include natural environment policy concerning forests and woodlands; ancient and native woodland management and restoration; open habitat management, restoration and creation; species recovery projects; protected areas management planning, and partnership working.

I work as a senior staff feature writer at the Daily Telegraph and am a natural history author with Bloomsbury. My latest book Forecast: a diary of the lost seasons was published this year.

I'm a writer and a science communicator and spend most of my life trying to encourage people to notice the Daisies and Dandelions of the world. My first book, The Orchid Hunter, was published in 2017.

Mags has worked for Natural England for 15 years specialising in wetland restoration of designated sites, site survey for the Field Unit and lately as Senior Specialist for Vascular Plants. She is also currently Chair of the Shropshire Botanical Society and has been involved with this society since moving to Shropshire in 1999.

Maria is the Grassland Ecologist with the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the national nature conservation agency in Ireland. She previously worked for seven years as the Ireland Officer with the BSBI. She is passionate about communication, and about engaging with all sectors of society about nature.

Mark is a keen field botanist who has been recording and working with plants for much of his life. He is an ecologist at the National Trust.

I am Vice-Chair and a trustee of Sheffield Environmental Movement.

I am a researcher at UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology where I lead the Land Use group. My main focus is on understanding the causes and consequence of change in soils and vegetation. Then trying to use that understanding to build models of what might happen in the future.

We are a small friendly charity celebrating botanical art, especially of native plants, and open to all.

I am a PhD student at the University of Portsmouth doing research on the flowering phenology of Linum bienne across its distribution. I am trying to understand how variation in flowering is shaped by evolutionary processes. I have an agronomy background, but I love learning about the ecology and evolution of plants!

Amateur botanist for four decades, professional ecologist/entomologist/conservationist, now chief exec of Wildlife Trust for Beds, Cambs and Northants, and obsessed with elms.

Conservation adviser at Plantlife and representative of Plantlife on the BSBI Committee for England. I am botanist with a Yorkshire farming background and a specialism in arable plants. I am experienced in project development and management, consultancy, seed collecting and natural history tour leading. I ran the Colour in the Margins, Back from the Brink project, targeting the conservation of rare arable plants from 2018 to 2021. I have a degree in Natural Sciences from Cambridge and a DPhil in Plant Sciences from Oxford where I studied the phylogeography and taxonomy of Cardamine hirsuta.

When I joined the BSBI thirty years ago, there were no books for beginners. So when I retired (from various sorts of teaching) I started writing some. Putting on training workshops for the BSBI in Scotland over the last seven years has helped me to understand what botanical beginners need.

I have been a long-term member of BSBI and my main interest has always been peatlands. During lockdown I took the opportunity to bring all my reseach, observation and cogitation on peat bogs to produce the book exhibited here.

As the BSBI's Scottish Officer, I've been promoting botany and supporting botanists in Scotland since 2004. More recently I've taken on a wider role as BSBI Senior Country Officer, managing Country Officers and editing BSBI Recorder eNewsletter - the monthly newsletter for the BSBI recording community amongst other stuff! I'm also a County Recorder for Mid-Perthshire.

Jonathan Shanklin is the BSBI Hon Field Meetings Secretary, chair of the Committee for England and vice-county recorder for Cambridgeshire. He is an emeritus fellow at the British Antarctic Survey and discovered the Antarctic ozone hole.

My name is Kwesia and I am City Girl in Nature. I am on a quest to introduce children and young people to the wonderful world of nature and outdoor adventure. To help heal and inspire. Please visit my website and socials for more information. I am seeking supporters, collaborators and fellow travellers. Kwesia grew up in Deptford, an inner city area of South-East London. Along with many of her friends, neighbors and peers, who all experienced a great deal of the challenges that come with living in an area, and with people, who have often been neglected, excluded and marginalized. She struggled a great deal with making sense of senseless violence and trauma she had faced, she found herself homeless, moving from sofa to sofa, and struggling with her mental health and well-being. At her lowest, she received what could be regarded as a gift and a blessing. An opportunity to be part of a British Exploring Society’s expedition to the Peruvian Amazon Rain-forest. This, in many ways, was a life-changing experience for her. She wanted to explore if a connection with nature could touch them in a similar way that it had with herself.This led to the start of City Girl in Nature, as a way to give back to her community.

I'm a master's student researching whether we can infer pollinator activity from orchid herbarium specimens. When I'm not working, I'm out exploring meadows, woods and the wilderness in search of incredible wildlife. I often share what I find on my little adventures over on Instagram.

Enthusiastic self-taught botanist and active member of Cambridge Natural History Society, with a long-standing interest in the environment and ecology.

We are a national society created for amateur botanists and wild flower lovers in Britain and Ireland. Our aims are: * to promote a greater knowledge of field botany among the general public and in particular among young people; * to advance education in matters relating to the conservation of wild flowers and of the countryside; * to promote the conservation of the British flora.

I'm a geoarchaeologist studying human-environment interactions on Holy Island / Lindisfarne during the Middle Ages. I'm following a multi-proxy approach to palaeoenvironmental reconstruction, including analysis of phytoliths - siliceous plant microfossils.

I am BSBI's Ireland Officer. My background is in ecology with a botanical focus. Originally from the US, I earned my PhD at Imperial College's Silwood Park, then worked at the University of Nottingham on the OPAL citizen science project. I moved to Ireland in 2018 and have been working for BSBI since 2019.

Currently the Volunteer Manager for the National Plant Monitoring Project at Plantlife. Prior to this I was a Local Wildlife Site Surveyor for Warwickshire Wildlife Trust. I am a botanist, all round naturalist and have a penchant for moths and fungi too!

VC Joint Recorder for South Somerset, member of Somerset Rare Plants Group, long-standing member of BSBI, formerly employed by Natural England as one of their botanists (retired 2014), passionate about dandelions, plant galls, first flowering dates, cricket and loads of other stuff too. Member of GB vascular plant Red List Group.

I am a post-doctoral researcher at Lund University researching pollinators. My PhD work explored the drivers of plant communities in coastal wetlands. I am also a member of the BSBI Events and Communications committee, and chairing the morning session today.

I am a PhD student at Loughborough University working on carnivorous plants. I am also a member of the BSBI Events and Communications committee and have helped organise the Exhibition Meeting.

I am a PhD student at the University of Cambridge, researching the convergent evolution of betalain pigments in the core Caryophyllales. I have been a member of the BSBI Events and Communications committee since 2018.

As Principal Ecologist at Surrey Wildlife Trust Ecology Services I get to identify plants at work and then identify more at the weekend on field trips. I am a member of BSBI Events & Communications Committee.

I'm an ecologist at the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology and I'm also Chair of BSBI Events & Communications Committee, the amazing team behind today's event!

Kylie has been a member of the Events & Communications Committee since 2015 and is currently the Committee's Secretary. She will be Chair for the third session of talks at this year's AEM. In day-to-day life Kylie is the Operational Biodiversity and Plastics Manager for Anglian Water, responsible for operational legislative compliance in relation to wildlife and the biodiversity management of >7000ha of land across the East of England and Hartlepool, with a sideline in leading the plastic waste reduction strategy for the business.

BSBI's Communications Officer, responsible for keeping the website updated, answering enquiries, promoting the society’s work to a wider audience. I oversee BSBI's social media platforms, edit the new monthly eNewsletter for members & supporters, and the News & Views blog. I've helped with organising the Exhibition Meeting and am exhibiting a few posters about BSBI activities. I'll be mostly behind the scenes on the day, sharing links in 'chat' and live-tweeting when I can using the #BSBIExhibitionMeeting hashtag.

I'm on the BSBI Events & Communications Committee and have helped to organise the Exhibition Meeting. I'm also part of the #wildflowerhour team on twitter and help with #wildflowerID enquiries. I'll be helping with social media on the day.

Ryan works for the monitoring and research team of the Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire Wildlife Trust. He has particular interest in vascular plants, solitary bees, beetles and bryophytes. Ryan sits on the Events & Communications Committee of the BSBI and will be helping out behind the scenes on the day.