July 2025 Fellows' update: Philip Seaton
Philip Seaton (CF 2000) recently presented at the RHS Orchid Show at Wisley, the RHS Orchid Expert Group, and BBC Gardeners' World Live at the NEC.
By Philip Seaton, 21 July 2025
Fellow’s Profile
Fellow’s Profile
Orchid conservation
Maintianing Latin American orchids ex situ by learning from a broad range of conservation methods
2000
West Midlands
My Fellowship in 2000 was a nine-week journey looking at the ex situ conservation of orchids in Cuba, Mexico, Costa Rica and Ecuador, with a focus on orchid seed banking. (Although by no means fluent, I speak reasonable Spanish.)
I spent 32 years as a biology lecturer in a small local college. After taking early retirement, my Fellowship was key to me following my dream of working full-time in orchid conservation. In 2007 I became Project Manager of the Darwin Initiative Project, OSSSU (Orchid Seed Stores for Sustainable Use) based at Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, a project with which I am still involved. The aim was to establish a global network of orchid seed banks. I have written and illustrated orchid manuals and books for Kew, and I am currently writing a book about orchid conservation with a colleague in the USA.
My work with OSSSU means that I have travelled extensively around the world promoting orchid conservation, and I regularly give workshops and presentations at conferences both in the UK and abroad. Conservation begins at home, however, and I run an orchid micropropagation lab in a local school, teaching students how to grow orchids from seed.
Philip Seaton (CF 2000) recently presented at the RHS Orchid Show at Wisley, the RHS Orchid Expert Group, and BBC Gardeners' World Live at the NEC.
By Philip Seaton, 21 July 2025
Phillip Seaton has co-authored a new book, Saving Orchids: Stories of Species Survival in a Changing World, written alongside his friend Lawrence W. Zettler of Illinois College, USA.
By Philip Seaton, 7 February 2025
Will our grandchildren still be able to enjoy our beautiful planet’s current biodiversity at the end of this century? Philip Seaton asks how we can safeguard biodiversity for future generations.
By Philip Seaton, 18 April 2024
All Reports are copyright © the author. The moral right of the author has been asserted. The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.
Philip Seaton (CF 2000) recently presented at the RHS Orchid Show at Wisley, the RHS Orchid Expert Group, and BBC Gardeners' World Live at the NEC.
By Philip Seaton, 21 July 2025
Phillip Seaton has co-authored a new book, Saving Orchids: Stories of Species Survival in a Changing World, written alongside his friend Lawrence W. Zettler of Illinois College, USA.
By Philip Seaton, 7 February 2025
Will our grandchildren still be able to enjoy our beautiful planet’s current biodiversity at the end of this century? Philip Seaton asks how we can safeguard biodiversity for future generations.
By Philip Seaton, 18 April 2024
All Reports are copyright © the author. The moral right of the author has been asserted. The views and opinions expressed by any Fellow are those of the Fellow and not of the Churchill Fellowship or its partners, which have no responsibility or liability for any part of them.