Bio:  After John obtained his Horticultural qualification he worked at St Andrews Botanic Garden, Inverewe. For the last 30 years John has worked at Edinburgh Botanic Garden, the last 19 as Supervisor.

His main duties are managing the Alpine Department which includes the Rock Garden, the Woodland Garden, the Alpine Area and most recently the New Alpine House. For the last 20 years John has co-led tours to Yunnan, Sichuan, Tibet, Iran and Alaska. He has also been on expeditions to Yunnan, Sichuan, Iran and most recently Russian republic of Altai, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan.