Kew Reach Associates

Donna is a strategic leader and spatial data expert with over 35 years of experience in geospatial, Earth Observation, and environmental innovation. She has led B2B product development and communications across corporates, EO start-ups, and government, with a focus on sustainability and climate action. Through her consultancy, she drives market development in the Environment, Energy, and Adaptation sectors. Donna has worked with Ordnance Survey on generative AI and digital MRV systems, served as a UK ESA Regional Ambassador, and helped secure funding for space-enabled commercial projects. Her career reflects a commitment to systemic change through spatial intelligence, strategic foresight, and collaborative innovation. The True Position is her latest venture to solve the challenges of transparency in supply chains and finance.

Shahina is a leading plant taxonomist specializing in the flora, vegetation, and conservation of the Middle East. She has over 40 years of teaching and research experience across Pakistan, Nigeria, Oman, and Fiji, and has contributed significantly to the floras of these regions. For the past 20 years, she served as Lead Botanist at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK, and is now an Honorary Research Associate. She holds a PhD in experimental taxonomy and a ScD from the University of Cambridge, and received the prestigious Linnean Medal for Botany in 2021. In Oman, she founded the country’s first University Herbarium and Botanic Garden, and has published, beside other papers, a four-volume, descriptive Flora of Oman. She is also the lead editor of Flora of Iraq. Her research spans taxonomy, conservation, restoration, and medicinal plants, particularly in the Arabian Peninsula. She is a member of the Arabian Plants Specialist Group and actively engages in outreach through talks, interviews, and publications. Notable works include Handbook of Arabian Medicinal Plants (1994), An Ancient Mesopotamian Herbal (2023), and the award-winning Plants of the Qur’ān (2023). She is currently writing The Medicinal Plants of the Middle East: From Antiquity to Present. Dr. Ghazanfar continues to mentor students, review academic work, and contribute to conservation science globally.

Monique is a plant and fungal scientist with over 30 years of research experience in the traditional and economic uses of plants and fungi, with a focus on their potential as leads for pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, novel foods, and agrochemicals. She spent her career at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where she made history as the first woman to serve as Deputy Director of Science, and is now an Honorary Fellow. In that role she co-ordinated research projects across business sectors, shaped Kew's science strategy, and built partnerships with commercial organisations to promote plant and fungal-based solutions to global challenges. Her research draws on a deep interest in plant-animal interactions and natural products chemistry, integrating the study of biological activities of extracts and isolated compounds with DNA-based approaches to guide species selection. She has co-authored patents in areas including malaria, cancer, pest control, and cosmetics, and has played an active role in bringing food, medicinal, and cosmetic products to market. Her current research focuses on the potential of plants and fungi as pharmaceutical leads for antibiotics and over-the-counter products. A committed advocate for public engagement, she believes that widening knowledge of the historical and potential new uses of plants is integral to supporting plant conservation.

Jonathan, MSc, BSc, CERP, is a restoration ecologist and strategic project leader with expertise in biodiversity science, native seed systems, and large-scale ecological restoration across East Africa. As Founder and Executive Director of the Centre for Ecosystem Restoration–Kenya (CER-K), he leads multi-year programmes spanning montane, coastal, and dryland ecosystems, managing portfolios exceeding $1 million and coordinating teams of over 35 staff and consultants. His work focuses on translating ecological science into implementable restoration strategies. Jonathan has developed community-based native seed supply networks, established a restoration seed bank with over 250 accessions, and designed ecological monitoring frameworks for diverse project sites. His contributions to the field include co-authoring the Global Biodiversity Standard (TGBS) and delivering assessor training across Kenya, Uganda, Jordan, and Malawi. Jonathan holds an MSc in Land & Ecological Restoration with Distinction and a BSc in Human Geography. He is a Certified Ecological Restoration Practitioner with the Society for Ecological Restoration. His approach integrates technical rigour in species propagation, ecological monitoring, and GIS with collaborative stakeholder engagement to deliver restoration outcomes that balance ecological integrity with community needs.

Born in Victoria, Australia, Richard joined the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne in 1980. From 1992 he moved into the role of manager and then director of the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria’s Melbourne Garden site. He held this position until 2010, when he was appointed CEO of Open Gardens Australia. In 2013 he was recruited to the UK to take up the new position of Director of Horticulture for the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew with responsibility for overseeing the management of Kew’s botanic garden and arboretum, display glasshouses, nurseries and the School of Horticulture. His role was expanded in 2015 to include Kew’s Learning and Participation, and Visitor Operations activities, Sustainability, Safeguarding, and overall responsibility for Kew’s wild botanic garden, the Wakehurst site. Richard has led on various improvement projects at Kew, including the major restoration of the Temperate House, development of the Great Broad Walk Borders, the Children’s Garden and the Agius Evolution Garden (both opened in 2019, and the innovative Carbon Garden (2025). He was also the executive lead for the project to restore the famous Palm House at Kew. Richard received the honour of being made an Office of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours in 2023, for services to the profession of Horticulture. He was appointed as a Chartered Horticulturist and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Horticulture, and is a Fellow of the Linnean Society. Richard returned to Australia with his family in 2025, after completing 12 years at RBG Kew. He currently resides in central Victoria.

Kayri holds a B.S. and an M.A. in Botany from Southern Illinois University and a Ph.D. in Biology from Indiana University. She spent three years at Missouri Botanical Garden before joining the Chicago Botanic Garden in 1997. She is currently the Garden’s Negaunee Vice President of Science and Chief Scientist. Her research interests include improving the native seed supply pipeline, ex situ conservation, restoration genetics, pollination networks, and invasion biology. She is a member of the BGCI-US board and chairs the Non-federal Cooperators Committee of the Plant Conservation Alliance. She is active in plant conservation advocacy with elected officials, and collaborates with a variety of academic institutions, agencies and stewardship organizations to help improve conservation efforts for plants and plant communities.

Stephanie is CEO of Little Blue Research and Project lead, ISO TC207 WG14 to develop ISO 14054:2025. She oversees the development and implementation of projects for Little Blue Research. She has over 15 years of experience in sustainability consulting and research with an emphasis on environmental and social impact analysis. She has enjoyed a varied career which includes helping to develop the Capitals Coalition’s Natural Capital Protocol and Sector Guides. She has worked on the development of several natural capital accounts and the implementation of the recommendations of the Taskforce for Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) across different businesses and often provides specialist research support to large scale projects. She is a fellow of the Institute of Sustainability and Environmental Professionals (ISEP) and part of its Fellows Steering Group.

Paul has played a global leadership role in the plant conservation sector since 2005, first as Head of the Millennium Seed Bank Partnership at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and then, since 2015, as Secretary General and CEO of Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). BGCI is the largest plant conservation network in the world, and is a membership organisation representing >950 botanical institutions in >120 countries, including the largest and most influential botanic gardens and arboreta in the world. BGCI's mission is to mobilise botanic gardens and engage partners in securing plant diversity for the well-being of people and the planet. It achieves this mission by influencing and empowering botanical institutions and partners to better conserve plant diversity, encourage people to live in an environmentally sustainable way and provide benefits for people as well as the ecology of the planet. BGCI's goal is that more than 1000 botanical organisations in its network will be playing a critical role in preventing plant species extinctions and creating a more sustainable planet by 2025. Paul's technical skills focus on plant conservation, and he has >30 years' experience in vegetation survey and inventory, seed conservation, ecological restoration and species recovery – mainly in developing countries. In addition, he has extensive experience in public engagement and fundraising.