Jordan Bilsborrow (Author)
Dr Jordan Bilsborrow is a senior botanist at the Royal Horticultural Society specialising in plant identification, with a passion for identifying a range of plants from humble weeds to mighty trees.
He manages the plant identification team at the RHS, part of the Gardening Advice Service, and researches ecosystem services of trees and hedges. Jordan also teaches plant identification skills on various topics such as conifers and winter trees to RHS Horticulture Students and previously taught plant diversity at the University of Reading, after completing his PhD there on daffodil species identification. His PhD research led to fieldwork throughout Morocco, Spain, and Portugal.
A champion of botanical education, Jordan also contributes to the Botanical University Challenge, writing questions to inspire the next generation of plant scientists.
Elisabeth Larsen (Author)
Dr Elisabeth Karlstad Larsen developed a love for forests and trees growing up in Norway. Early work investigated black poplar drought tolerance for biofuel as part of her MSc studies before she joined a research team in Valencia to study water-use of Aleppo pine forests in a Mediterranean climate for her PhD. She recently concluded a five-year project on ecosystem services provided by garden trees as a Tree Scientist at the Royal Horticultural Society. This role expanded her focus to a greater range of tree species and led to opportunities to supervise students, participating in and organising conferences and expert panels.
Passionate about the challenges trees face due to climate change, she currently works at Forest Research, focusing on forest biodiversity and agroforestry across the UK.