Sharon Willoughby: "Botanic gardens are a treasure trove of stories"

In 2017 I relocated to London, UK to take up the role of Head of Interpretation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. 

I had worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne since 1999, and for most of that time was located at Cranbourne Gardens working on the Australian Garden project as Manager of Public Programs.

The role at Kew presented an extraordinary opportunity. Kew had been struggling for a number of years to work out how to tell stories about botanic science and horticulture in their gardens. I was recruited at a critical juncture when urgent work was needed to shape and deliver the storytelling in the renovated Temperate House, the largest and oldest glasshouse in Europe.  

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is an enormous organisation with more than 800 staff and a history going back at least 260 years. Kew scientists continue to work around the globe, especially in areas where plant biodiversity is most at risk. Working at Kew presented the opportunity to learn more about the world’s flora.

Kew was also very interested in the interpretation and communication of science and the chance to work directly with Kew scientists and horticulturalist to tell their stories was too good to pass up.

I work with a small team to map out what stories to tell visitors, why, where and how. In the Temperate House, this involved creating a narrative around Rare and Threatened Plants, and highlighting the work of Kew scientists across the globe in saving vulnerable plants from extinction.

My role is located within the Directorate of Horticulture, Learning and Operations where I report to another University of Melbourne alum, Richard Barley.

I have very fond memories of my time at the University of Melbourne, so making contact with the UK Alumni Association was a very natural step to take.

The events that we have organised in London are very social and my husband has noted that we are an extremely chatty and friendly collection of people.  As much as I love working and living in London it is occasionally lovely to be in a room full of people who sound like home.

What would Sir David Attenborough do? 

I had the great fortune to meet Sir David Attenborough at the opening of the Temperate House in 2018. I have always admired his approach to communication about the natural world and if I’m ever stuck trying to tell a complicated story I try to imagine how this story would sound if he was presenting it.  

Sir David congratulated me on the interpretation presented in the Temperate House, and this remains the biggest highlight of working at Kew so far.

Science communication is at its best when it is clear. It doesn’t shy away from using technical terms, but it always explains them. It doesn’t patronise the reader, but brings them along with the story like any good conversation.

Reading the work of science communicators that you admire and enjoy is an important part of ongoing professional development. Visit as many museums, gardens, zoos and galleries as you can – read every panel and learn from the advances that others are making.  

From interpretation to protection 

In the northern hemisphere, most zoos, museums, galleries and gardens employ interpretation professionals who mediate the visitor experience through signs, tours, exhibitions, events and any number of strategies that engage visitors with the work and life of the organisation and its collections.

Interpretation in cultural organisations grew out of the work of Freeman Tilden an American nature writer who worked for the American National Park Service. Tilden’s seminal book Interpreting our Heritage was published in 1957 and first codified interpretation as a profession.  

Interpretation is focused on the ways in which an organisation can engage its visiting public with the meaning of its collections, landscapes or exhibits. 

Tilden wrote:  

Through interpretation, understanding, through understanding, appreciation, through appreciation, protection.

Tilden was conscious that without a love and understanding of the natural world places like the great National Parks of Yosemite and Yellowstone in the US would be lost. 

Living collections

Like many Melburnians, I grew up with a love for the Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne (now Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, Melbourne Gardens), a special place for many local families. In 1999 I had just returned to Australia from an extended stay in the UK and when the opportunity to work at Melbourne Gardens arose, I was delighted.

Botanic gardens, like any collecting organisation, are a treasure trove of stories.

I found that in a botanic gardens context, I could draw on my eclectic scientific background and continue to learn as I worked. I find plants endlessly fascinating and the opportunity to share those stories with the visiting public an immensely rewarding challenge.

I moved from customer service into supporting the volunteer guides and then eventually into the development of public programs. I relished the opportunity to explore stories through plants – their scientific, cultural and historic links. 

Botanic gardens, along with universities, are amongst our oldest scientific institutions. Visitor surveys in botanic gardens world-wide tell us that while botanic gardens are visited by some 300 million visitors annually, an enormous audience, many visitors see botanic gardens as beautiful parks, yet remain unaware of the vital science that is undertaken by gardens.  

Most visitors do not know the importance of the living collections, the plants that make up these magnificent landscapes. At places like Kew or the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, these plants may be the last known individual of their species.

Supporting our communities to understand the role of botanic gardens and the importance of all plants and fungi to all life on Earth is crucial. A basic understanding of scientific concepts is important if we are to make sense of the modern world and all the complexity of the global changes that we face.  

This need to understand scientific concepts has been strongly underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Passion as a bridge to understanding

My approach is to tell clear and engaging stories about plant science, focusing in on the scientists and horticulturalist who do this extraordinary work. Their passion for their research is the bridge to visitor understanding and an important strategy in fostering a love and understanding of the natural world. 

Botanic Gardens are ideally placed to engage the public with plant science. They have high visitation, magnificent collections and a wealth of stories to tell.

Increasingly, botanic gardens world-wide explore ideas about global change. The Temperate House refurbishment at Kew is a good example of a way in which we explore big ideas such as extinction and the threats to plant biodiversity.  

Plants within the Temperate House that are rare or threatened according to the IUCN’s Red Listing process are highlighted in story panels. The IUCN Red List estimates the probability of plant extinction and points to the actions needed to save a plant. We link these plants to the individual scientists working to save them.  

The St Helena Olive tragedy

One plant highlighted in the Temperate House is the now extinct St Helena Olive (Nesiota elliptica). Kew scientists were able to take cuttings from the last known plant on the island before it died in 1994.  

In 2003, the last plant in cultivation grown on from those cuttings was destroyed by fungal infection and termites. The plant could not be saved despite the best efforts of Kew scientific and horticultural staff.  

The only remnant of this plant is a sample of genetic material that was salvaged and stored in Kew’s DNA bank. This plant is represented in the Temperate House by an empty plant pot and a story board outlining the tragedy.  

Projects such as the annual Science Festival at Kew, art installations, visitor programs and the biannual State of the World’s Plants report engage visitors and members with topics such as climate change, food security and natural capital.  

There is a move in the gardens towards engaging visitors more directly with this storytelling, creating conversations with the public. This is a much more dynamic approach.

Turning to gardening in challenging times

I love gardens and gardening. I’ve been thinking about a quote from the English writer Jenny Uglow:  

We may think we are nurturing our garden, but of course, it’s our garden that is really nurturing us.

This has been true for me during lockdown, and time outside planting seeds and taking cuttings has been a balm in this difficult time.

My husband and I live in a small flat in London, but we are lucky enough to be on the ground floor in a block that still sits in generous communal grounds. Our surrounding flats are occupied by students who don’t have the time to garden so we took up the task of looking after the borders around our flats just as London moved into lockdown. 

I am growing lots of ornamental and vegetable plants on our back porch and windowsills and as the weather begins to warm up, we are planting them in and around the flats to share with our neighbours.  

Have you also relocated since graduating from Melbourne? 

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