Board of Trustees

Marcus Agius - Chairman

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

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 Jonathan Drori CBE

Director of Changing Media Ltd, a London consulting group. Visiting Professor at Bristol University, specialising in misconceptions in science and in the uses of technology for learning. Adviser to public bodies on new media and audience strategies. 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.

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 Foundation of Prince William 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.

Dr Geoffrey Hawtin

An expert in the conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources and the founding director of the Global Crop Diversity Trust and currently the Trust’s Senior Advisor. During his career he has also been the CEO of two research institutes of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research: the Centro Internacional de Agricultura Tropical (CIAT) in Colombia and Bioversity International in Rome, Italy.

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.

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.

George Loudon

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

Professor Nicola Spence

Nicola is Chief Executive of Science City York, formerly Chief Scientist at the Food and Environment Research Agency and Head of Plant Health at the Central Science Laboratory. She is Special Professor in applied plant pathology at the University of Nottingham and an expert in plant health and international plant trade. She is a Board member for the British Society for Plant Pathology and a scientific adviser to the BBSRC and the EU.

Jennifer Ullman

Landscape consultant, and was formerly Chief Parks Officer for Wandsworth Borough Council and Chairman of the Board of Greenspace.

Sir Ferrers Vyvyan

Owner and manager of Trelowarren Estate and Chairman of the Royal Institution of Cornwall (RIC), a Learned Society that owns and runs the Royal Cornwall Museum.