Board of Trustees, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Marcus Agius - Chairman

Marcus is Chairman of the Trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Chairman of the Foundation and Friends of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Formerly: Chairman of Barclays PLC, Chairman of Lazard London, Deputy Chairman of Lazard LLC, Chairman of BAA PLC and a Senior Independent Director of the BBC.

Sir Ferrers Vyvyan

Owner of Trelowarren Estate; formerly Chairman of the Royal Institution of Cornwall (RIC); formerly High Sheriff of Cornwall; DL; Architectural Association Post Graduate Diploma in Conservation of Garden and Historic Landscapes.

Dr Geoffrey Hawtin

An expert in the conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources, Geoffrey Hawtin was the founding director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust, an institution with which he is still closely associated. During his career he has also been Director General of two research institutes of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR): Bioversity International in Rome, Italy and the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) in Colombia. He is currently vice Chairman of CIAT’s Board of Trustees.

George Loudon

Chairman and Director of a number of investment and other firms including Altius Holdings Ltd; former Director of Midland Bank Plc and former Vice-Chairman of the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, former Director of the Multiple Sclerosis International Federation, former Board member of the Rijksakademie Beeldende Kunst (Amsterdam) and former Trustee of both the Galapagos Conservation Trust, and London Library.

Sir Henry Keswick

Chairman of Jardine Matheson, Director of Rothschilds Continuation Holdings AG. Formerly, Chairman of the National Portrait Gallery, President of the Royal Highland Agriculture Society, proprietor of The Spectator, and member of the National Trust Council.

Jennifer Ullman

Jennifer Ullman is a landscape consultant, specialising in the management of public parks and gardens. Jennifer is currently a member of the Heritage Lottery Fund’s London Committee. Previous roles include Chief Parks Officer for Wandsworth Council, and Chairman of Greenspace.

Professor Jonathan Drori CBE

Advises large organisations on outreach, media and technology strategy. Visiting Professor at Bristol University, specialising in misconceptions in science and in the uses of technology for learning. Chairman of UK Parliament’s Advisory Council on Public Engagement. Previously: Director of Culture Online at the Department for Culture Media and Sport, Head of Commissioning for BBC Online, Head of Digital Media and Learning Channels, Executive Producer and Director.

Professor Malcolm Press

Professor of Ecology and Pro-Vice-Chancellor at the University of Birmingham. Research on interactions between parasitic plants and their hosts, environmental change in Arctic ecosystems and tropical rainforest ecology. Recent roles include presidency of the British Ecological Society (2007-09) and membership of the Natural Environment Research Council’s Science and Innovation Strategy Board (2007-10). Currently Deputy Chair of the Research Excellence Framework Biological Sciences sub-panel.

Professor Michael Crawley

Professor Crawley is an ecologist and Professor of Biology at Imperial College, London, based at Silwood Park campus, Ascot, Berkshire.

He has a passion for growing plants and developed the arboretum at Silwood Park, Ascot. He is a fellow of the Royal Society with an international reputation for research into the factors affecting the distribution and abundance of plants.

Professor Nicola Spence

Nicola is the Chief Executive of SCY, a leading Innovation organisation based in York. Nicola has a BSc in Botany from the University of Durham, an MSc in Microbiology from Birkbeck College, University of London and a PhD in Plant Virology from the University of Birmingham. She is an expert in plant health and International plant trade and was previously the Chief Scientist at the Food and Environment Research Agency, where she is a Fellow

Nicola is a Director of Venturefest Yorkshire, a member of the University of York Court and a member of the Business, Innovation and Growth Panel for the Leeds City Region Local Enterprise Partnership.
 

Mrs Tessa Green

Tessa Green has had a long career in the National Health Service, holding positions as Chairman of the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, Founding Chairman of the Royal Marsden Cancer Campaign, Chairman of the Royal Marsden Hospital Charity, a Trustee of The Royal Foundation of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry and a Trustee of the Institute of Cancer Research.

Following her previous role as Head of Corporate Affairs at Carlton Communications Plc, Tessa qualified as a barrister. She has a long standing interest in horticulture, botany and biodiversity issues.

Timothy Hornsby CBE

Timothy Hornsby is currently the Chair of the Horniman Museum, and Chair of the Harkness Fellows Association. He is an independent member of the Consumer Council for Water, a Governor of the Legacy Trust, and a Commissioner of the Marshall Aid Commemoration Commission.

In his previous career he was a Commissioner and Chair of the National Lottery Commission. He occupied the Chief Executive posts at the National Lottery Charities Board (now the Big Lottery Fund), the Royal Borough of Kingston, and the Nature Conservancy Council, after a career in academic life and subsequently in HM Treasury and the Department of Environment.