Jenny is the Director of Research & Conservation at Denver Botanic Gardens, where she leads the team of scientists working to investigate and explain biodiversity patterns and processes. She has more than 20 years of experience in rare plant conservation.

Emily is the Vice President of Conservation & Research at the Atlanta Botanical Garden, and a rare plant specialist at heart.

Mary Blodgett is a retired litigation attorney and a current tree farmer, gardener, and community volunteer.

Nicole Cavender is the Telleen/Jorgensen Director of the Botanical Gardens at the Huntington. She has been leading programs that span global plant conservation, tree science, urban forestry, and ecological restoration for more than 18 years.

Carly is the Secretary General of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). Her work focuses on providing strategic and organisational leadership, overseeing delivery of BGCI’s Strategic Framework and advancing its mission to secure plant diversity for the well-being of people and the planet. She has a long history of developing and delivering plant conservation programmes and has led work with botanic gardens and the Convention on Biological Diversity to advance implementation of the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. Through collaborative partnerships, she works to strengthen BGCI’s global network and foster a supportive, collaborative and productive working environment across the organisation.

Jennifer Cruse-Sanders, Ph.D. is the Director of the State Botanical Garden of Georgia. Her research and applied conservation interests are in the area of plant conservation, restoration, and how human activities impact the persistence, change and survival of native plant species. Through collaborative partnerships, she has helped to build networks for conservation across the southeastern U.S.

Patrick is a botanist and explorer, familiar with most every garden tool – from shovel to sequencer – and now focused on leveraging genetic data to advance plant conservation through living collections.

Jake Li is the Vice President of Conservation Policy at Defenders of Wildlife. His career has focused on conserving imperiled species and their habitats, including at advocacy organizations and federal agencies.

Kim serves as the Chief Science Officer at Desert Botanical Garden. Her interests are population ecology and genetics of rare plants, in situ and ex situ seed bank dynamics, invasive species and conservation science outreach and education.

Catherine Nicholson is a passionate environmentalist and long-time active member of the Garden Club of America.

Robert Patterson is an experienced real estate, business and public agency transaction attorney, and a life-long plant enthusiast.

Jesus Antonio is the Director of Protected Natural Areas for CONANP (Comisión Nacional de Áreas Naturales Protegidas) in Juchitan, Oaxaca, Mexico.

Kate is the Associate Vice President of Science at Longwood Gardens, where she provides strategic leadership for science across conservation horticulture, collections, land stewardship, floriculture production, soils, and science communications. Her work integrates applied research, living collections, and stewardship practice to advance conservation, growth, sustainability, and inspiration.

Chad Washburn is the Vice President of Science and Conservation and leads the Center for Nature-Based Solutions at Naples Botanical Garden. His work focuses on building collaborations that support plant conservation and restoration efforts, focusing on south Florida, the Caribbean, and Central America.

Murphy supports The Morton Arboretum’s service to the public to improve the health of the urban forest in the Chicago region, protect threatened tree species around the globe, facilitate technology transfer to industry and the public, and provide professional leadership to the world’s arboreta.

Peter Wyse Jackson is the Emeritus President of Missouri Botanical Garden and George Englemann Professor of Botany, Washington University in St. Louis. In 1987, he joined IUCN where he helped to establish the international network organisation for botanic gardens that became BGCI.