Helen Bostock Trustee since 2010

Helen is Senior Horticultural Adviser for the RHS, based at Wisley. With a History degree from York University, Helen took the National Certificate in Horticulture at Askham Bryan Agricultural/Horticultural College, gaining an excellent grounding in the basic skills and science of horticulture. She then completed the two-year Wisley Diploma in Practical Horticulture and RHS Diploma before joining the Advisory team nine years ago.

Helen has been on the Forum's Steering Group since 2008, and is in charge of the Forum's research project "Plants for Bugs" at RHS Wisley, which is comparing native and non-native plants as contributors to garden insect biodiversity.

Laura Brook Trustee since 2011 

Laura has worked within the Wildlife Trust movement for the last 10 years and currently works as a Conservation Policy officer at Sussex Wildlife Trust. Laura is an ecologist with a particular interest in amphibians, reptiles and ponds. Laura's interest in Wildlife Gardening was fuelled from her time managing the Sussex Wildlife Trust Wildlife advice service, the service which handles roughly 1200 enquiries a year has a strong focus on  enquiries relating to wildlife gardening.

Laura has run wildlife gardening courses for her Trust and has recently developed their wildlife gardening focused project "Nature Street", which looks at ways in which gardens can work collectively to enhance their street for biodiversity. Laura is interested in looking at gardens from a connectivity view point and how good design and planning can ensure these resources are recognised as a vital component of green infrastructure in our urban areas

Marc Carlton Trustee since 2012

Marc is a private gardener who has been passionate about plants and gardens since he was a small boy. It took him many years to fully understand that flowers did not evolve for the benefit of humans but simply as a means to facilitate pollination, but for the last decade or so learning about the relationship between flowers and their pollinators and trying to spread that knowledge more widely gardeners has been a main focus of his interests. He worked for many years in a variety of roles in the Civil Service, mainly to do with policy and statistics.

Dr Steve Head Forum Coordinator since 2007, Trustee 2017

Steve is an invertebrate zoologist and general ecologist with a particular interest in gardening and helping people at every level to understand the importance of garden wildlife. He was a founder member of the Forum and the Steering Group, and managed the Forum and its conferences for several years.

Steve has a lecturing background in Universities in the UK, Jamaica and Oman, subsequently leading conservation NGOs and managing their development. Steve was for 8 years a Secretary of State Member on the Exmoor National Park Authority.  He lectures and runs courses on wildlife gardening and is particularly proud of leading a team that won Gold and Best in Show for a Courtyard Garden at Chelsea 2010.

Dr Andrew Salisbury Trustee since 2011

Principal Entomologist, Royal Horticultural Society. Andrew has been an entomologist with the RHS since 1998, gaining a PhD from Imperial College on the lily beetle (Lilioceris lilii) in 2008 as part of that role. Andrew’s primary interests are Coleoptera (beetles) and garden ecology. In addition to providing advice on garden animal related matters, a major part of Andrew’s work involves researching the value of gardens for wildlife, including what to plant and coordinating the RHS perfect for pollinators campaign.

Adrian Thomas Trustee since 2012

Adrian  is the RSPB's face and voice of gardening for wildlife, author of RSPB Gardening for Wildlife, monthly columnist for Garden Answers magazine and one of the judges for BBC Gardeners World magazine Garden of the Year. But most importantly he is a passionate, hands-on wildlife gardener! Particular interests are: how to engage and inspire the general public; the value of garden plants for wildlife; how to dispel the myth that a wildlife garden has to be messy; and how to integrate wildlife gardening with all the other things that people want their gardens to be.

Dr Ken Thompson Trustee since 2010

Ken has retired from his Senior Lectureship at the Department of Animal and Plant Sciences at Sheffield University. An international expert in seed science, he was a leader in the seminal “Biodiversity in Urban Gardens (BUGS)” project which has firmly established the significance of ordinary British gardens for biodiversity. He is a founder member of the Forum and on its Steering Group since 2005, and played a major role in considering research needs and in the design of the current “Plants for Bugs” project at RHS Wisley.

Ken is a prolific and engaging author, with popular titles on garden ecology including “The Book of Weeds”, “An Ear to The Ground: Understanding Your Garden”, “Compost” and the brilliant “No Nettles Required - the reassuring truth about wildlife gardening”.

Caroline Ware Trustee since 2010

Caroline is Wildlife Gardener and Ecologist at the Natural History Museum, in charge of their superb Wildlife Garden. News about the garden can be read on the Museum website and regular wildlife garden blog. Caroline was a founder member of the Forum and on its Steering Group since 2005, and has played host to many of our most successful conferences. She is an Implementation Member of The London Biodiversity Partnership. Caroline is a licenced Volunteer Bat Roost Visitor and contributes data regularly to BCT's National Bat Monitoring Programme and is an active member of the Kent Bat Group.