Louise Furniss - Centenary Prize
A love of natural history has led to a career at the Natural History Museum in London for Louise. And, in turn, that has led to an interest in gardening and botany, which now looks set to open up a new career path for the winner of this year's Centenary Prize for her work for the RHS level 2 General Certificate in Horticulture.
It was getting her own garden, which she sees as a big practical natural history experiement, that inspired Louise to enrol on the part-time evening course.
After her success she wants to study for a more advanced horticultural qualification and build on her Master's in Science Communication to include interpretation at public, botanic and historic gardens, with the aim of developing a career in garden design and management.
And if that's not enough she's also hoping to get taken on as a volunteer in the kitchen garden at the recently restored Chiswick House Gardens.