Simon Milne MBE FRGS was appointed the sixteenth Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh in 2014. He was educated at the University of St Andrews and the Royal Naval College Greenwich. He was commissioned into the Royal Marines in 1976 and served with Commando Forces for the majority of his service.

From 2000 to 2004 he was Director of the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum, and from 2004 to 2014 he was Chief Executive of the Scottish Wildlife Trust. He sits on a variety of national biodiversity related committees and his particular interests include conservation translocations, natural capital and its sustainable management, and public engagement with conservation.

Peter Williams, who lives in Oxford, has a life-long interest in natural history and the contribution animals make to our culture. He is author of Snail (2009) in the Animal series.