I have been a member of Garden Organic and the Heritage Seed Library since 2013 and I became a Seed Guardian in 2016. Since 2013, my passion for organic horticulture has continued to grow. Garden Organic has attracted my attention when I started with my allotment and I was in search of some sound advice for novice. The main selling point for me was (and still is) that its publications were based on scientific research, focussing on two dear causes to my heart: sustainability and food growing.

I am a mathematician and have been working in academia for over 20 years. In my role, in addition to research and teaching, I have been actively involved in equality and diversity, outreach and sustainability matters relevant in this environment.

Coming from a working class family. I strongly believe that everyone should be listened to, given space to express themselves, and be encouraged to attain their personal goals.

I particularly enjoy the Member's Experiments, which give everyone, wherever they are located, the possibility to do precisely that: trialling biochar, growing unusual crops, or building a better veg planner; every experiment helps me become aware and understand what works well where I live, and then share my findings with my friends in my little "gardening bubble". To some extent, Garden Organic allows all its members, more or less skilled gardeners, to engage and learn about sustainability, climate change and food growing in this way.

In my spare time, I tend to my honeybees, in my back garden. They too benefit from my organic gardening methods!