Board of Trustees

The Board of Trustees' responsibilities are to oversee the management of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and to provide strategic guidance to Senior Management.

Trustees are appointed (and can be reappointed) for four yearly terms by Scottish Ministers. The Board is accountable to Scottish Ministers through the Chairman. There are nine members of the Board of Trustees (with one vacancy at present).
Useful links
- RBGE Science Advisory Committee
- Corporate policies

Board of Trustees

Mr Dominic Fry (Chair): has had a successful career as an Executive and Trustee spans retail, energy, the public sector, social mobility and the arts. He has over 30 years of experience in senior, strategic communications roles working with the Boards of large, complex and high profile organisations. Most recently as Director of Communications & Investor Relations for Marks & Spencer, Dominic’s responsibilities included the communication of M&S’ ethical and environmental Plan A during a decade on the M&S Management Board. Dominic combines strategic thinking with the conviction to get things done. He has proven influencing skills across issues, media, and reputation management, as well as a wide network of influential contacts in the UK and internationally. Dominic has strong commercial experience and has been involved with successful fundraising campaigns for several charities as a Trustee.
Mr Raoul Curtis-Machin: brings a broad and very successful track record in developing tourist attractions in the heritage sector. At the National Trust he improved and developed more than 50 attractions and helped develop and deliver the National Commercial Strategy 2011-2013. As the Landscape Historian for Historic Environment Scotland, he helped protect many of Scotland’s finest landscapes. Mr Curtis-Machin represented the UK Government as Commissioner-General at the Antalya Expo 2016. He has a certificate in Company Direction from the Institute of Directors, a Public Affairs Diploma from the Chartered Institute of Public Relations and a Postgrad Diploma in Journalism from Strathclyde University.
Ms Sarah Cathcart: Sarah is Vice President, Education at Longwood Gardens, Pennsylvania, USA. Sarah has spent her career in education having joined Longwood from the RHS where she was Head of Education. Sarah moved to the US in 2017 and implemented an entirely new education strategy and approach at Longwood. Recognised worldwide for its formal education programmes, Longwood, under Sarah’s direction, instigated a new and innovative range of informal and inclusive educational opportunities. Sarah’s achievements at the RHS included gaining recognition for gardening in the English National Curriculum and an imaginative and ground breaking collaboration with the UK Space Agency on the Rocket Science Project linking citizen science, plants and space which increased the RHS schools’ membership to 27,000 schools. Sarah is passionate about horticultural education and believes in the need to coordinate and collaborate globally to prevent biodiversity loss. In 2014 Sarah became Vice Chair of the Education and Employment Group at the Ornamental Horticulture Roundtable, working with industry and DEFRA to address the UK horticulture skills crisis. Sarah actively supports public gardens and schools through programmes like Seed Your Future, Niagara Parks Education Advisory, and the Unionville Schools District Grounds group. Sarah is a regular speaker at conferences on education in horticulture around the world.
Professor Beverley Glover: grew up in Perth, reading Plant and Environmental Biology at the University of St Andrews before a PhD in Plant Development Genetics at the John Innes Centre in Norwich. She established her research group at the University of Cambridge in 1999, where she is also a Fellow of Queens' College. Beverley is Director of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden and Professor of Plant Systematics and Evolution, a role which combines active research in flower evolution with strategic leadership of the garden. Prof Glover is a member of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh's Science Advisory Committee.
Dr David Hamilton: has a degree in Botany from the University of Glasgow and a doctorate from Imperial College, London. Since completing them, he has worked in the private sector where he owns and runs a management consultancy specialising in financial services. Dr Hamilton has a wide range of experience covering plant science, strategy, project management, and partnership ventures. He is currently the Vice-Chair of the Rock Trust, a Scottish homelessness charity headquartered in Edinburgh. Dr Hamilton is a member of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh's Investment Committee.
Dr Ian Jardine: has degrees in ecology and zoology and was Chief Executive of Scottish Natural Heritage from 2002 until 2017, having worked for the organisation since 1992. He has extensive experience of biodiversity, conservation and environmental education, including at international level. From 2017 to 2019 Dr Jardine was National Adviser on Environmental Policy working with the Scottish Government.
Professor Thomas Meagher: moved to Scotland in 1999 as Professor of Plant Biology at the University of St Andrews. Prior to that, he was a Professor of Ecology and Evolution at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA. He studied Botany at the University of South Florida, Florida, and gained a PhD in Botany and Genetics at Duke University, North Carolina. His research interests include plant evolutionary biology, conservation biology and biodiversity, and public understanding of science. Professor Meagher has served on the Defra Science Advisory Council (2004-2009), the Natural Environment Research Council (2007-2013) and the UK Plant Health and Biosecurity Taskforce (2012-2013). Prof Meagher is the Chair of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh's Science Advisory Committee.
Ms Diana Murray: has worked in the cultural and historic environment sector for over 40 years and was the Chief Executive of the Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland (RCAHMS) and also joint CEO of Historic Scotland (HS) until October 2015. She is a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland and an Honorary Fellow of the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh; a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a fellow of the Scottish Royal Geographical Society and a member of the Institute of Directors. She was for many years a non-executive director of the National Trust for Scotland and is currently the Chair of Arts and Business Scotland, as well as serving as a trustee of a number of other Scottish charities. Ms Murray is the Chair of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh's Arts Advisory Group, a member of the Remuneration Committee and is the Whistleblowing Trustee.
Professor Ian Wall FRSE: became a Trustee in January 2015. He invented the Edinburgh International Science Festival, the first ever in the world, and was one of the founders of the International Centre for Mathematical Science, serving on both Boards. He is Chair of the Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Committee (STEMEC) advising the Scottish Government on all aspects of STEM education and serves on the Boards of a number of charities including the Court of Heriot Watt University and the Scottish Poetry Library. Professor Wall is currently Visiting Professor of Architecture at Scott Sutherland School of Architecture, Aberdeen and vice–chair of The Scottish Council for Development and Industry. Prior to retirement, he was CEO of the EDI Group, a property development and investment company responsible for a wide range of commercial and residential projects across the central belt. Finally, He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland. Prof Wall is the Chair of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh's Investment Committee, a member of the Audit Committee and the Trustees' representative on the North East Corner Project.