We are delighted to share our line up of speakers for our fourth Beth Chatto Symposium - Connections Through Time
We will be introducing a programme of truly inspirational and diverse speakers from a multitude of disciplines, listed here in alphabetical order
Beronda L. Montgomery, PhD is writer, science communicator, and researcher. During 2025-2026, she is serving as the Sally Starling Seaver Fellow at the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University. Beronda has spent 20 years in academia, most recently as Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean (2022-2024) and Professor of Biology of Grinnell College (2022-present). Prior to that Dr. Montgomery was an endowed Professor of Biochemistry and senior administrator, including Assistant Provost of Faculty Development and Associate Vice President of Research and Innovation, at Michigan State University (2004-2022). As a researcher, Dr. Montgomery studies how individuals perceive, respond to, and are impacted by environments in which they exist. Her laboratory-based research efforts are focused on the responses of photosynthetic organisms to external light and nutrient cues. Additionally, Dr. Montgomery pursues this theme in the context of effective mentoring and academic leadership. Dr. Montgomery is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (2018), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (2020), the American Society of Plant Biologists (2021) and the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (2022), as well as American Society for Cell Biology Mentoring Keynote honoree (2021). She was named one of Cell‘s Inspiring Black Scientists in America. Dr. Montgomery has received the Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award from the American Society of Plant Biologists (2024), Excellence in Supporting Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging from the North American Arabidopsis Steering Committee (2024), and 2023 Hutchinson Medal of the Chicago Horticultural Society. In 2025 she was named recipient of the Presidential Awards for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM), the Nation's highest honors for mentors who work to fully develop the Nation's human resources in STEM. Dr. Montgomery is author of two books Lessons from Plants (Harvard University Press, 2021) and When Trees Testify (Henry Holt, 2026).
Darryl is an award-winning garden and landscape designer and writer. He is author of Gardening in a Changing World: Plants People and the Climate Crisis. He is Director and co-founder of the innovative urban landscape organisation Cityscapes, realising creative approaches to greening city spaces through novel design ideas that ensure ecological, economic and social sustainability.
He is a consultant at Beth Chatto’s Plants & Gardens, co-curator of thehub.earth and a tutor at KLC School of Design. He sits on the Society of Garden Designers Council, and is a fellow of the RSA. His most recent award was for the St Mungo’s Putting Down Roots Garden at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2022, showcasing sustainability and ecology in public places.
Gardening in a Changing World: Plants, People and the Climate Crisis explores recent developments in planting design, horticulture, ecology and plant science. It addresses our relationship with plants and gardens, looking at the ways we can begin to appreciate and work together with plants in facing the challenges of climate change and biodiversity loss
David Godshall is a landscape architect, horticultural theorist and the design director of the TERREMOTO office in Los Angeles, which he founded with Alain Peauroi in 2012. David’s strategic approach to design is inherently rooted in philosophy and the idea that ecology, horticulture and landscape have transformative physical and metaphorical impacts upon a person and a place.
Dr Helen Hoyle is a Lecturer in Healthy Urban Landscapes in the School of Architecture and Landscape at the University of Sheffield and a NIHR School for Public Health Transdisciplinary Research Fellow in the Sheffield Centre for Health and Related Research. Her research lies at the intersection of nature and human wellbeing, informing policy and practice to prioritise biodiversity and wellbeing in the context of a changing climate. She believes passionately in collaborating closely with those who juggle these priorities on the ground. Much of her research involves introducing nature-based interventions in partnership with policymakers, practitioners, and communities, and measuring the impacts. She is currently working part of a large multidisciplinary partnership led by Luton Borough Council, awarded a £1M grant by the highly competitive Natural England Nature Towns and Cities Heritage Lottery Fund. This project ‘Roots to healthy places: nature connections in Luton’ will focus on improving health, access and connections to nature across communities, with a particular focus on communities already identified as facing barriers to access. Helen is a member of the Adaptation Committee of the Irish Climate Change Advisory Council where she shares expertise in nature-based solutions and biodiversit
Humaira Ikram has been working as a professional Garden Designer at Studio Ikram for over 15 years and specialises in client focused landscapes which are pollinator friendly and as sustainable as possible. She runs the Garden Design Diploma at the KLC School of Design, is a Gardens Advisor to RHS Hyde Hall, and RHS Judge and on various selection and advisory panels for the RHS. She is co-curator of the newly established thehub.earth highlighting sustainable, ethical and cross sector events, as well as an award winning broadcaster who has contributed to BBC Radio 4 Gardeners Question Time, been part of garden focused TV and media campaigns and programmes, and writes for various gardening magazines.
Dr Robinson is an interdisciplinary researcher working at the nexus of microbiome science, ecosystem restoration and human health. Grounded in systems and 'multispecies' thinking, his work explores how ecological and cultural processes interact to shape resilient futures. Jake contributes to global initiatives, including the UNFCCC and Grounded Minds Consortium and leads science-driven projects that bridge research, public engagement and imagination infrastructure. He is passionate about making science accessible to everyone and is the author of Invisible Friends (2023), TREEWILDING (2024) and The Nature of Pandemics (2025). He hosts two podcasts (Interconnected and Naked Thinking) and a new YouTube channel: @naturegutbrain. For more information, visit: www.jakemrobinson.com
John Ferguson is a plant ecophysiologist whose research examines how ecological strategies shape plant performance, evolution, and ecosystem function. As a Lecturer in the School of Life Sciences at the University of Essex, he investigates natural variation in traits such as stomatal behaviour, photosynthetic capacity, and water-use efficiency to understand how plants respond to environmental gradients and climatic stress.
A major focus of John’s recent work is the integration of ecological strategy frameworks with high-resolution phenotyping and genetic analysis. By developing new methods, including hyperspectral approaches for estimating ecological strategies in situ, he aims to reveal how strategic trait variation influences evolutionary trajectories, species’ climatic niches, and vegetation–climate feedbacks. His research spans wild taxa and crop relatives, linking individual physiological traits to broader patterns of adaptation, resilience, and ecosystem functioning.
John collaborates widely across ecology, evolution, and agricultural science, contributing to efforts to predict plant responses under future climates and to translate fundamental insights into practical tools for biodiversity conservation and crop improvement. He is also committed to mentoring early-career researchers and communicating plant science to wider audiences.
John argues against long standing protocol within public space and horticulture. He suggests structural complexity is overlooked in landscape design and is more important than plant choice.
Since starting the grassroofcompany.co.uk in 1998, he has designed and built over 400 small green roof buildings, combining deep biodiverse green roofs with walls of breeding and hibernation space.
After 18 years caring for the green space on Clapton Park estate, Hackney, he produced a sustainable grounds maintenance contract that puts people first.
In 2007 John’s company was awarded Silver Gilt at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show for a garden based on the work they pioneer for the green spaces within social housing. John worked closely with the residents of the Clapton Park Estate, Hackney – in fact it was the first time a council estate had entered the show.
He questions our obsession with specifying topsoil in all new projects, especially on highways and new developments. Habitat trials at his home include a garden designed with spoil from the local road widening scheme, industrial and construction waste.
In 2008 he launched a range of small green roof shelters based on shipping containers and designed portable structures including bike and bin storage. greenroofshelters.co.uk
In 2025 he started a not for profit to offer free training for gardeners in everything other than horticulture. The important stuff. carenotcapital.org
Kelly D. Norris is one of the leading ecological horticulturists of his generation. In his practice, he explores the narrative of place through site-specific plantings and landscape interventions. An award-winning author and plantsman, Kelly’s work in gardens has been featured in The New York Times, Better Homes and Gardens, Martha Stewart Living, Fine Gardening, Garden Design, and numerous television, radio, and digital media appearances. His latest book is Your Natural Garden from Cool Springs Press.
Kelly’s eponymous design studio works in public and private places across North America. The studio annually produces the New Naturalism Academy, a virtual school for enthusiastic designers, as a commitment to continuing education and lifelong learning. He’s also the founder and curator of The Public Horticulture Company, an emerging ecological landscape startup based in Des Moines, Iowa.
He is the former director of horticulture and education at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, where for eight years, he directed efforts in design, curation, programming, garden, and facility management after serving as the owner’s representative to nearly $20 million in capital projects.
Monica Feria-Tinta is an award-winning barrister and the author of the critically acclaimed book A Barrister for the Earth, referred to as ‘a vital book for our times’ and ‘radically rethinking our way of inhabiting the Earth’. Monica acted in the seminal Rights of Nature case Los Cedros - a world precedent on an eco-centric approach to nature protection, and on landmark climate cases globally. Her work has contributed to systemic changes addressing climate change and the protection of the natural world. Monica was a ‘Barrister of the Year’ finalist at The Lawyer Awards 2025 and The Times’ first “Lawyer of the Week” in 2025. She has been referred to as 'one of Britain's most dazzling legal minds’ and her work has been featured in The Times, The Guardian, Prospect Magazine, Vogue, Vanity Fair Italia, and BBC Radio 3 and 4.
Having changed career in the early 2000’s, Sheila studied at Kew, worked for English Heritage, and has been a garden manager at RHS Garden Wisley with responsibility for Education, Edibles, Seed and Wellbeing since 2015. This time has included the development of the hilltop gardens at Wisley which feature gardens for Wildlife, Wellbeing and Food. Sheila is passionate about growing food in sustainable ways to support planetary and human health, and has been instrumental in developing Wisley’s planet friendly gardening initiative to develop actions towards increasing biodiversity and sharing knowledge around sustainability and resilience in horticulture. Sheila is well known for her interest in soil health and enjoys developing thoughts around how systems connect and how people can rediscover their role in that connection.
Benny is a former marine biologist who has been working as a gardener and wildlife advocate for the last nine years.
He is head gardener for a very special community garden called Eden Nature Garden in the heart of Clapham where he works with the local community to drive interest in plants and wildlife.
He also works with Fiona Crummay and John Little at their experimental Hilldrop garden.
Other days of the week are filled caring for a wide range of London gardens doing maintenance and development.
He is particularly focused on thoughtful, city gardening with a focus on wild insects and the combination of weeds and more conventional garden plants.
