I was born in Monterey, California but was born into a military family. This lifestyle doomed me to live a sporadic life bouncing between states for 18 years. Regardless of the city or state in which I found myself, the one thing that remained constant was nature. Wherever I went, there was always something new…
I was born on 1st May 1975 in Peerumadu, a hilly village in the Western Ghats of Idukki district in the south Indian state of Kerala. I am the child of a civil servant and was educated in different schools in different districts. I went to school in Vellikulam, Vagamon of Idukki district, High School…
A life in bryology As an only child born and growing up in post-war north London suburbia anything to do with nature was my sanity and my salvation. My first love from primary school was ornithology, but my interest soon expanded to include botany, as without the plants there would be no habitats for the…
I was born in South Africa and acquired an early appreciation and respect for nature from my family. During the school holidays, I would often stay with my grandma who was a volunteer with South African National Parks. We would go for walks along the mountain, with her chatting away to her friends and observing…
Professionally, I am more of an ecologist, than a bryologist. I became interested in peatlands when I started my degree at the Australian National University as a mature age student in 1980 under the guidance of the late Prof Geoff Hope, a palynologist and paleoecologist, who first sparked my interest in peatlands. When I moved…
I grew up in San Francisco, California, where my father was a mycologist and founder of the San Francisco State University Herbarium. Although his main interest was the macrofungi of California, he maintained a lifelong interest in bryophytes, sparked by a course he took in bryology taught by Dr. Margaret Fulford. He frequently said he wished…
I was born Perpetua Blanks, in Melbourne, Australia, but from the age of 5 to my late teens I grew up in Bendigo amongst Box-Ironbark forests regrowing after the Victorian gold mining era. Surrounded by the Australian bush and given the opportunity of a childhood adventuring outdoors, my choice of career was destined to focus…
When young, I taught myself to draw and paint flowers, which helped me to learn their names when I became a student at Bedford College in London. Previously, on a woodland floor, I had found several mosses, beautiful, thrilling – and later I was set the task of naming a collection from the Lake District….
My name is Imen BEN OSMAN. I was born in Tunis, Tunisia. Plants have fascinated me since childhood because of their diverse colors, shapes and beautiful flowers. Having a Master’s degree in Evolutionary Ecology, I began my journey as a bryologist working on a research project suggested by my supervisor, to whom all the merit…
Emma was born in Melbourne, Australia to a family very keen on being outdoors and camping. She wanted to be a park ranger until she realised that it meant cleaning toilets and scolding people. Instead, she did a BSc at the University of Melbourne. Emma’s interest in bryophytes came about after she joined Professor Andy…