Gemma Hardy is an interdisciplinary researcher and creative practitioner with an MSc in Sustainability from Anglia Ruskin University’s Global Sustainability Institute. Her work explores how people perceive and connect with the living world, particularly overlooked or ‘forgotten’ biodiversity. Published in the Journal of Biological Education, she develops creative, research-informed approaches to education and public engagement, and is currently exploring new ways of seeing, sensing, and connecting with fungi.

Aileen is Senior Conservation Officer for Fungi at Plantlife, working on fungal conservation projects across the UK. She has worked in mycology for 9 years, with particular interests in the impacts of climate change on fungi, grassland fungi, rainforest fungi, and community science. Aileen’s work covers a diverse range of projects, including the new UK Network for Fungal Conservation, the community-science project Waxcap Watch, and on-the-ground conservation of threatened fungi. In her spare time, Aileen enjoys fell running, cycling, knitting, and teaching her toddler about the world of mycology!

Anna Chilvers is the co-editor of The Book of Bogs. She has four published novels, the latest of which, Orca and Bird, was published in 2025 by Bluemoose Books. She also writes short stories, non-fiction, poetry and scripts. All of her work has a strong connection to place. She teaches creative writing in the community and higher education. She is currently working on a non-fiction book about grief and loss of place, as well as her next novel.

Clare Shaw has four poetry collections with Bloodaxe; their last collection was a Poetry Society Book of the Year, and their fifth will be published in 2027. As the resident poet at Lancashire Wildlife Trust, they fell deeply in love with bogs and wetlands. Clare shares their infectious passion for nature and poetry through workshops, collaborations and other projects: along with Anna Chilvers, they are co-editor of The Book of Bogs (Little Toller 2025), co-host of Writing Bogwise

Ben began his career in nature conservation as a volunteer at the age of 16, and went on to do a Masters degree in Conservation at UCL.

He has spent over 20 years working in the landscape of the North Kent Downs, with the last 17 of those at the 660-acre Ranscombe Farm Reserve (Plantlife’s largest nature reserve in England) with its truly unique assemblage of wildflowers.

He is passionate about the landscape of the Kent countryside and understanding the history behind it.

Camille McCawley is Senior Participation Officer at Plantlife and leads the Ranscombe Connect project at Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve in Kent. Her work focuses on community engagement, volunteering and co-production, helping more people connect with nature and shape the future of the reserve.

With a background in environmental science and over a decade of experience in community development and participation, she is passionate about making nature accessible and welcoming.

Camille is also a freelance poet and creative practitioner who uses writing to help people connect with nature and place.

John Harold is Plantlife’s Farm Partnership Officer, focused on how we can help farmers deliver more for wild plants and fungi from the hard work of producing food, fuel or fibre.

John’s background includes managing a hill farm, running a conservation charity, ecological consultancy, and work on biodiversity in local planning. What links them all is a passion for looking after land so that nature can thrive.

I have had a lifelong interest in the natural environment and a career as a teacher/University lecturer in Sport Psychology. With husband John and two teenagers, in 1989 we bought a farm in the foothills of Eryri, with a diversity of relatively ‘unimproved’ habitats.

Enthusiastic for challenge, we aimed to demonstrate that conservation and farming were complementary activities, and, since retirement, have continued to tackle the task of using good livestock management to enhance the environment. The learning continues.

Katie Cameron is based in Wiltshire and is Collaboration Manger for Plantlife, a new role in the communications team to expand how we work and who we work with, and to reach exciting new audiences. Katie studied art and french at university and after working in a UK gallery and then in events for a short time in Hong Kong, joined plantlife 15 years ago initially working in the membership team before joining the dynamnic communications team to work in press and media.

Katherine Blamire is Head of the Living Knowledge Network (LKN) at the British Library. LKN is a Network of 30 library authorities across the UK. Through a programme including exhibitions, live streams and events the LKN works to enhance meaningful engagement between libraries and their communities, increase access to culture, collections, and information and support library staff. Katherine is passionate about libraries as important spaces for sharing culture and supporting healthy and connected communities. LKN’s most recent exhibition, Unearthed the Power of Gardening, engaged over 800,000 people.

Ashleigh Whiffin is Curator of Entomology at National Museums Scotland, where she is responsible for the care, curation and development of the insect collection, containing approximately 2.5 million specimens. This active collection is used for vital biodiversity research and education, as well as being a source of inspiration and reference for artists. Ashleigh is a keen science communicator and is passionate about disseminating entomology and the value of collections, to the wider public. She primarily shares her love for insects through public talks and social media, but has also featured on BBC Winterwatch, Gardeners World and the One Show.

Tabitha is a social historian of medieval and early modern England, specialising in the history of magic and witchcraft. She is currently researching the 1640s East Anglian witch hunt and how it interacted with the drainage of the Cambridgeshire Fens.

Her first book, Cunning Folk: Life in the Era of Practical Magic, was a New York Times book of the year and won the Folklore Society’s Katharine Briggs Award (2024).

Jo Jones is Brecks Conservation Officer and coordinates a group of 60 people who form the Breckland Flora Group and systematically survey the rare plants of the Brecks, recording their abundance, mapping their location and noting the habitat condition where they are growing. Jo is interested in the inter-relation of people and plants, social history and her roots are in the Fens, where generations of her family farmed.

Sarah heads up the Partnerships Team at Plantlife, building strong, two way relationships with a diverse range of funding partners from Grant giving bodies, to Trusts and Foundations and individual Philanthropists – helping them to achieve their goals for nature and people by supporting our work on plants and fungi. She loves making connections and building impactful long term partnerships to help Plantlife deliver vital conservation work.

A conservationist rather than an out-and-out ecologist or botanist, Paul is Plantlife’s Head of Species and Sites and leads the Nature Reserves team. He has worked in nature conservation for over 20 years, managing habitats and caring for protected sites all over England.