I have always been bug-mad and spent hours in my parents' back garden scaring my sister with caterpillars!
A garden is a fascinating ecosystem and, when UK gardens are combined, they form a huge area. This means that gardeners can really make a difference - and that is what makes my job so thrilling! By helping to advise gardeners and doing research that improves our knowledge about gardens as systems, we can help the wider environment for both wildlife and people. I have always been ‘bug’-mad and spent hours in my parents' back garden looking after pet snails and scaring my sister with caterpillars! At university I studied Zoology and Entomology (the study of insects) while also working in museum insect collections, a city farm and tropical butterfly houses. I am part of the Plant Health team in the labs at RHS Garden Wisley, where my current research focuses on the organic control of carrot fly and also viral diseases of garden plants.
Anna Platoni
The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.
