Stephen Blackmore studied botany at the University of Reading, receiving his PhD in 1976.

His first botanic garden role was as head of the National Herbarium and Botanic Garden of Malawi (1977-1980). 

He worked at the Natural History Museum in London as a research botanist from 1980 until 1990 when he was appointed Keeper of Botany. 

In 1999 he moved to the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) as Regius Keeper (Director) and became actively involved in international plant conservation efforts, serving on the Board of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI).  He was a member of the Gran Canaria Group which called for, and later drafted, the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. 

After retiring from RBGE in 2013 he served as the  Chair of the UK Government’s Darwin Initiative from 2013 to 2019 and as Chair of the Board of BGCI from 2013 to 2024.  

In 2010 he was appointed to the honorary position of Her Majesty’s Botanist in Scotland (Queen’s Botanist) and has been awarded the Linnean Medal (2012), the Scottish Horticultural Medal (2008) and the Victoria Medal of Honour (2012).

Full Professor of Ecology at the University of Alicante (Spain) and a member of the Board of the Society for Ecological Restoration, he specializes in dryland ecology and restoration.

His current research emphasizes participatory systematic restoration planning and vocational education and training (VET).

With extensive experience collaborating with policymakers and practitioners across both public and private sectors, he has authored 197 papers, including 83 in SCI journals, and supervised 12 Ph.D. and 16 M.Sc. students. His contributions have fostered new paradigms in dryland restoration and encouraged the implementation of innovative restoration practices.

For 30 years, he has taught graduate and undergraduate courses in ecological restoration and has coordinated the UA M.Sc. program in Restoration and Management of Natural Environments.

Degree and PhD in Biology from the Universitat de València (Spain) with a mention in International Doctorate. She is a professor in the Departament of Experimental and Social Sciences Teaching at the Faculty of Teacher Training (UV) and Deputy Director and researcher of the Botanical Garden of the UV. She coordinates the Speciality of Biology and Geology of the Master´s Degree of Secondary Education at the UV and the RCC-Harvard study group 'Teaching and learning science in outdoor environments (TeLeSOE)' with the Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University. Since 2022 she is the Director of the Chair of Scientific Culture for Climate Emergency (CCC Chair).

Her research focuses on the one hand on rare and endangered flora, both from coastal and mountain ecosystems and in invasive species. On the other, she leads research projects in the areas of environmental education, Education for Sustainability (EDS), environmental health, didactics of botany and outdoor education, with a special interest in addressing climate emergency with plants as a teaching resource of exceptional potential.

Her current academic work focuses on the use of natural environments as innovative resources for formal and non-formal education. Olga is actively involved in teacher training, designing teaching strategies that align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) of the 2030 Agenda. She is a co-investigator in the national project "Observatory of the Implementation of Agenda 2030 in the Spanish University System (ODServa2030)", funded by the Spanish Ministry. She has recently hosted at the Botanical Garden UV the II Meeting of University Sustainability Chairs, where she led discussions on integrating climate change education and research.

Dr Paul Smith is the Secretary General of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). BGCI is the largest plant conservation network in the world, comprising >950 member institutions in 120 countries. BGCI leads the Global Tree Assessment, and recently published the State of the World's Trees Report showing that one third of the world's 60,000 tree species are threatened with extinction.

With a career spanning 30 years in conservation, Paul joined BGCI as Secretary General in February 2015. Prior this, Paul was Director of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank for nine years. Paul trained as a plant ecologist, and is a specialist in the plants and vegetation of southern Africa.

He edited the Ecological Survey of Zambia, is the author of two field guides to the flora of south-central Africa, the Vegetation Atlas of Madagascar, The Book of Seeds, and Trees – from root to leaf. Paul is a Trustee of the National Botanic Garden of Wales, Co-Chair of IUCN's Plant Conservation Committee and Chair of Forestry England's Arboreta Advisory Committee.

He is the recipient of the New England Wildflower Society's Medal for Services to International Plant Conservation and the David Fairchild Medal for Plant Exploration.

Nicola Schoenenberger (Lugano, Switzerland, 1976), biologist and botanist, is director of the Geneva Botanical Garden.

After being awarded a Ph.D. in plant genetics at the University of Neuchâtel, he became conservator for botany at the Natural History Museum in Lugano. Subsequently he ran a consulting firm in the field of international development cooperation and biodiversity conservation.

He is also a member of the Swiss scientific authority of the Convention on the Protection of the Species (CITES), as well as of the Swiss Academy of Natural Sciences as an expert on biodiversity.

His passion for nature has led him to politics as a member of the Green Party: he was a member of the town board in Lugano and later group leader in the Cantonal Parliament.

a.o. Univ.-Professor in Botany (retired), University of Vienna until March 2024: Head, Core Facility Botanical Garden, University of Vienna

Fields of research and teaching
Phylogeny, evolution, and radiation of angiosperms with special focus on islands Nature conservation (nationally and internationally) History, tasks and strategic planning of Botanic Gardens Didactics of botany

Current functions, affiliations, and memberships (selection)
Member, IUCN Seed Conservation Specialist Group Chair, International Plant Exchange Network (IPEN) Coordination Group Representative of Austria for CITES-plants issues

Coordination and management activities (selection)
IABG-activities related to Historical Botanical Gardens Didactics/education in Botany, i.a., "Green school program", University of Vienna