Jonathan Drori and Nicola Spence

Jonathan Drori CBE is a Trustee of both Cambridge and Oxford Botanic Gardens and Honorary Professor at Birmingham University’s Institute of Forest Research. Previously, he was a Trustee of the Eden Project and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and for BBC TV, was responsible for many science documentaries. He is known for his TED talks on botany, which have been viewed millions of times. Jon is the author of the runaway best-sellers, Around the World In 80 Trees and Around the World in 80 Plants, revealing how the worlds of trees and plants are intricately entwined with our own history, culture and folklore. His first book for children, The Stuff That Stuff Is Made Of (The things we make with plants) will be published in Sept 2025.

Nicola Spence is an expert in plant health and the international plant trade, and a keen gardener. She is the UK’s Chief Plant Health Officer and heads the National Plant Protection Organisation. She was previously Chief Scientist at the Food and Environment Research Agency and President of the British Society for Plant Pathology. She is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology, Honorary Professor at the University of Birmingham, Visiting Professor at Harper Adams University, a member of Court at the University of York and a Trustee of The Yorkshire Arboretum. Nicola’s PhD was in Plant Virology at the University of Birmingham.