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[popup header=”Dr. Susan Elizabeth Gardiner Davies – FRSNZ, FISHS” animate=”false” text=”Dr. Susan Elizabeth Gardiner Davies” color=”warning” size=”mini”] Dr. Susan Elizabeth Gardiner Davies was brought up on our family farm ‘Woodchester’, near Waiau, in the South Island of New Zealand, where I was introduced to rhododendrons by my mother, June Gardiner. Early education was supervised at home by Mum via the Correspondence school, and then it was off boarding school in Christchurch, and finally to University. I completed my PhD in Biochemistry at Otago University, where I came to love the peace of the Rhododendron Dell during exam time.
I headed off to Freiburg in Germany to undertake two years of post-doctoral research and finally started work in 1980 in Palmerston North, in the North Island, as a Scientist at the Plant Physiology Division (PPD) of the then Department of Scientific and Industrial Research. Several restructurings later, I retired from Plant & Food Research Ltd in 2019 as a Principal Scientist. My area of work involved developing DNA based tools for fruit tree breeders, to increase the efficiency of developing new varieties of yummy fruit with genetic resistance to pests and diseases.
I met my husband Lindsay during my first year at work at PPD and we now live and garden at our 10 acre property ‘Omahuri’, which features an extensive collection of rhododendron species, mostly self -propagated. I have been a member of the NZRA Council for many years and am now serving my second term as President.
I am a Member of the Board of the Pukeiti Rhododendron Trust. I value my long term relationship with the RSBG and position as an International Member of its Board. I have recently been honoured by election as a Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and the International Society of Horticultural Science.
In my retirement, I am able to pursue my interests in the genus Rhododendron, its conservation and genetics. [/popup][/column][column size=”1/4″ wpautop=”false”]
[popup header=”Dr. Julianna Mediros” animate=”false” text=”Dr. Julianna Mediros” color=”warning” size=”mini”]
Dr. Juliana Medeiros leads the plant ecophysiology lab at the Holden Arboretum, primarily focusing on the impact of spatial and temporal variation in climate on growth and resource allocation of temperate woody plants. In addition to her research activities, she is a founding Co-Chair of the Rhododendron Research Network through the American Rhododendron Society, which focuses on building collaborative infrastructure to foster new partnerships across the international community of Rhododendron researchers and developing scientific programs for public audiences.
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[popup header=”Kelly Dodson and Sue Milliken” animate=”false” text=”Kelly Dodson and Sue Milliken” color=”warning” size=”mini”]
Kelly and Sue have spent their lives learning and working with plants in nurseries, botanic gardens and plant hunting expeditions. They are owners of Far Reaches Farm whose extensive collection of plants is spectacularly unfocused. The nursery has been featured in magazines such as Pacific Horticulture, Horticulture, Garden Gate, Martha Stewart Living and in 2021, mentioned in the New York Times as “arguably the best nursery in the country for cool-climate perennials”. In addition, they are contributing editors for Fine Gardening magazine. They are also founding directors of Far Reaches Botanical Conservancy, a non-profit whose mission is the acquisition and conservation of vulnerable plants of wild and cultivated origin that are new or rare in North America.
Visit them at www.farreachesfarm.com or www.farreachesbotanicalconservancy.org
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[popup header=”STEVE HOOTMAN” animate=”false” text=”STEVE HOOTMAN” color=”warning” size=”mini”] Steve Hootman is the Executive Director & Curator of the Rhododendron Species Botanical Garden in Federal Way, Washington where he has worked since 1992. He has participated in or led around twenty expeditions into the remote regions of the world looking for rare and new taxa of rhododendrons and other plants and is considered one of the world authorities on the genus Rhododendron. He is also an active collector, authority and promoter of related Ericaceae including genera such as Vaccinium, Agapetes and Gaultheria. Steve has been formally recognized with several awards, including the Loder Cup from the Royal Horticultural Society, the Gold Medal from the American Rhododendron Society, and the Marcel LePiniec Award by the North American Rock Garden Society. [/popup][/column]
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