Thank you to all our previous board members!

As of 2022, we have now started to record previous members of the board here in recognition of their time and commitment over the years.

Nick Lightfoot (Vice Chair of the PlantNetwork Board: 2020-2022), Garden & Collections Manager, Ness Botanic Garden

Nick is responsible for developing and delivering strategic objectives at Ness which include garden master planning, plant collection policy, collection management and a new glasshouse project. Ness is the University of Liverpool’s botanic garden and Nick leads a team of nine staff and approximately one hundred volunteers.

Nick has previously worked in a private garden designed by Thomas Mawson and more recently for the National Trust. His qualifications include the RHS Master of Horticulture and an MA in Garden History. He originally trained as an archaeologist and has a BSc in Ancient History & Archaeology.

Nick was a member of the PlantNetwork Executive Board from 2019 to 2022.

Will Ritchie, Curator, National Botanic Garden of Wales then Scotland’s Rural University College

Will is the Curator at the National Botanic Garden of Wales with responsibilities for horticulture, development of the living collections and Waun Las National Nature Reserve. As a member of the senior management team he is also involved in the delivery of Growing the Future, a five-year programme which aims to promote and develop horticulture in Wales by providing training and knowledge transfer opportunities. Will was previously Curator at Glasgow Botanic Gardens and has worked in botanic gardens and universities in the United Kingdom, United States and Oman.

Will trained at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and gained a BSc (Hons) in Horticulture with Plantsmanship. In 2012 he completed a MSc programme in Horticulture at the University of Arkansas, specialising in breeding and taxonomy.

Will was a member of the PlantNetwork Executive Board from 2019 to 2022.

Christopher Weddell (Treasurer and Webmaster until 2022), Senior Gardens Adviser at English Heritage

Christopher is a Senior Gardens Advisor at English Heritage, which encompasses the setting and monitoring of standards of garden presentation and curation at English Heritage’s garden sites, advising and supporting garden teams and property staff, and leading on support for plant recording, garden volunteers and garden health and safety.  Christopher has also spent time working for the National Trust, Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, and the Royal Horticultural Society amongst others.

Christopher was a member of the PlantNetwork Executive Board from 2009 to 2022, spending much of this period as Treasurer as well as the creating and maintaining the website and online systems.