Benedetta Gori

I am part of the Sustainable Use, Seeds and Solutions team in the Ecosystem Stewardship department of Kew Science. My team researches the beneficial impacts of plant and fungal diversity on human lives – from a nutritional, environmental, and economic perspective – and supports the creation of new livelihoods based on their sustainable use. I am now working on the Useful Plants and Fungi of Colombia (UPFC) project, focusing on the conservation and revitalization of neglected and underutilised edible plant species (NUS). My academic background gave me the tools to carry out interdisciplinary research, combining plant taxonomy, ethnobotany, and food science. My current research integrates spatial analysis and social sciences, looking at the biogeographic distribution of Colombian edible plants and their uses across different bioregions. My main research aim is to direct future targeted prioritization efforts towards the conservation-trough-use of such resources, which hold great potential for diversifying diets and creating sustainable value chains.

• M.Sc Plant and Fungal Taxonomy, Diversity and Conservation, Queen Mary University of London, 2021
• M.Sc Ethnobotany, University of Kent, 2020
• B.Sc Food Science, University of Gastronomic Sciences, 2019