Richard George Deverell CBE (born 1965 [1] ) became Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in September 2012. [2] He was previously Controller of CBBC, the department within the BBC responsible for output aimed at children. [2]
Richard George Deverell CBE (born 1965 [1] ) became Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in September 2012. [2] He was previously Controller of CBBC, the department within the BBC responsible for output aimed at children. [2]
Deverell was born in 1965. [1] He graduated in biological sciences from Cambridge University. [2]
After graduation, Deverell worked for several years in management consultancy before joining the BBC, where he was Head of Strategy and Marketing and on the Board of BBC News, as Head of News Interactive.
In 2005 he was appointed the Chief Operating Officer of CBBC, the then name for the BBC Children's department, [3] as Alison Sharman's deputy. A year later, in 2006, when Sharman left after just five months in the post, [4] he was appointed into her role as Controller, CBBC. As someone who had come from a management, rather than a programming background, after taking up his post, Deverell created two new Creative Directors of the CBBC and CBeebies services respectively renaming his title, Controller of BBC Children's. [3]
In March 2009, Deverell was named chief operating officer of the BBC's new broadcasting and production centre in Salford Quays [5] which was to become the new base for BBC Children's along with BBC Sport but in 2011 he switched roles to become the BBC's programme director for the W12 project, responsible for the sale of the BBC's property in West London including Television Centre. [6]
In 2012, Deverell was appointed the Director of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, of which he had been a trustee from 2003 to 2009, during which time his contributions included chairing the Board Audit Committee.
As Director, Deverell became responsible for: the botanic gardens and collections located in London and Wakehurst, Sussex; and a large number of UK and international plant conservation and research projects.
In 2016, he supported the transfer to Kew of the award-winning British-designed structure, The Hive, which was initially commissioned by UK Trade & Investment as the UK Pavilion for the Milan Expo in 2015. [7] The installation aims to raise awareness amongst visitors of the relationship between plants and pollinators and has received acclaim.[ citation needed ]
Facing a significant funding shortage in 2014/15 Deverell oversaw a restructure of RBG Kew. In December 2014 he appeared in front of the Science and Technology Select Committee of the House of Commons, [8] to explain the reasons why and to outline the support RBG Kew needed from government and elsewhere. In April 2016 RBG Kew announced a positive 4 year funding settlement from the UK government through DEFRA. [9]
Deverell has also been behind a higher profile for botanical science at RBG Kew since he became Director, with the unveiling of a new Science Strategy in 2015, the launch of the first State of the World's Plants report in 2016, [10] and the first Kew Science Festival in August 2016.
Deverell was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2024 New Year Honours for services to botanical science and conservation. [11]
Deverell is married with three children.
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. An internationally important botanical research and education institution, it employs 1,100 staff. Its board of trustees is chaired by Dame Amelia Fawcett.
Kew is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens, now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is also the home of important historical documents such as Domesday Book, which is held at The National Archives.
Sir William Jackson Hooker was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew he founded the Herbarium and enlarged the gardens and arboretum. The standard author abbreviation Hook. is used to indicate this person as the author when citing a botanical name.
Sir Edward James Salisbury CBE FRS was an English botanist and ecologist. He was born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire and graduated in botany from University College London in 1905. In 1913, he obtained a D.Sc. with a thesis on fossil seeds and was appointed a senior lecturer at East London College. He returned to University College London as a senior lecturer, from 1924 as a reader in plant ecology and from 1929 as Quain Professor of botany.
Royal Botanical Gardens (RBG) is headquartered in Burlington owning extensive environmental protection areas, historic sites and culturally relevant gardens in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the major tourist attractions between Niagara Falls and Toronto, as well as a significant local and regional horticultural, education, conservation, and scientific resource. The mandate is derived by a Provincial Act of 1941 centred on human interaction with the natural world and protection of environmentally significant lands that form the western tip of Lake Ontario. Royal Botanical Gardens spans an area of about 10 km by 4 km, dominated by two coastal wetlands, and glacial-carved landscapes that extend from the lake up to the Niagara Escarpment plateau. The various gardens and natural areas are accessed through nine public entrance locations. It is one of several Prescribed Public Bodies listed under the Ontario Heritage Act.
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Alison Sharman is an Executive and Teams Coach and was formally a Television Executive, working her way from junior grades to hold posts including Controller of BBC Daytime and Controller of BBC Children's.
Wakehurst, previously known as Wakehurst Place, is a house and botanic gardens in West Sussex, England, owned by the National Trust but used and managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. It is near Ardingly, West Sussex in the High Weald, and comprises a late 16th-century mansion, a mainly 20th-century garden and, in a modern building, Kew's Millennium Seed Bank. Visitors are able to see the gardens, the Mansion, and also visit the seed bank. The garden today covers some 2 km2 and includes walled and water gardens, woodland and wetland conservation areas.
Sir Peter Crane, FRS is the current President of the Oak Spring Garden Foundation and Senior Research Scientist in the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. In addition to his work in leading and developing educational and natural history organizations, including the Field Museum in Chicago and the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, he has had a long career as a professor and researcher in both the U.K. and the United States. He is best known for his work on the origin and early evolution of flowering plants (angiosperms) based on studies of the plant fossil record. His popular writing includes Ginkgo: The Tree That Time Forgot, a book that traces the evolution and cultural history of Ginkgo biloba to the present day.
Nigel Pickard is a British television executive who oversaw the creation and launch of, amongst others, the BBC's children's channels, CBBC and CBeebies and as director of programmes at ITV, was responsible for commissioning some of the UK's most popular shows. He also worked for Zodiak Media, one of the largest independent producers in the world and is currently a Director of Nevision.
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Michael Andrew Carrington, is an Australian broadcast media executive who is currently Director, Entertainment and Specialist at the ABC based in Sydney, New South Wales. He oversees all national radio, television, and digital services including ABC TV (ABC1), ABC TV Plus (ABC2), ABC Me, ABC Kids plus ABC iview, ABC Listen, ABC Kids Listen, ABC Classic FM, ABC Jazz, ABC Country, and Radio National.
The Great Plant Hunt is a primary school plant science learning initiative, developed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and funded by the Wellcome Trust. It is supported by DEFRA, Sir David Attenborough, and Science Learning Centres in the UK.
James ('Jim') Boughtwood Comber was born at Garlieston, Scotland, into a famous horticultural family. His father was the noted collector and lily breeder Harold Frederick Comber ALS, while his grandfather, James Comber VMH was Head Gardener at Nymans. His brother Richard gained a PhD in plant biochemistry. from Southampton University in 1955. His sister, Mary Comber-Miles, became the resident botanical artist at the University of British Columbia.
Kailas Nath Kaul (1905–1983) was an Indian botanist, naturalist, agricultural scientist, horticulturist, herbalist, plant collector and herpetologist, and a world authority on Arecaceae. He founded India's National Botanical Research Institute and was instrumental in organizing the country's modern scientific infrastructure. He is regarded as a vital influence behind his niece Indira Gandhi's proactive role in environmental protection by means of extensive legislative and policy interventions.
Kew Gardens is a botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its living collections include some of the 27,000 taxa curated by Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, while the herbarium, one of the largest in the world, has over 8.5 million preserved plant and fungal specimens. The library contains more than 750,000 volumes, and the illustrations collection contains more than 175,000 prints and drawings of plants. It is one of London's top tourist attractions and is a World Heritage Site.
Dame Amelia Chilcott Fawcett is an American-British business executive who is currently Chairman of Kinnevik AB (Stockholm) and Lead Director of State Street Corporation. Fawcett is the Chairman of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, a Governor of the Wellcome Trust and a Trustee of Project HOPE UK.
Kim Danila Shillinglaw is a British media executive. A former controller of BBC Two and BBC Four, head of science and natural history commissioning at the BBC, and commissioner for children's entertainment at CBBC, she later became director of factual programming at Endemol Shine UK,
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