向日葵视频

When Kevin Martin began working as a tree surgeon, he never imagined that it would grow into a career combining study with a prestigious role at Kew Gardens.

No longer climbing trees for a living, Kevin is now Head of Tree Collections at the Royal Botanic Gardens while simultaneously studying for a PhD in Environmental Science at Lancaster.

“My transition from a practical job into academia has been an exciting journey.”

He already has a Master's degree in Plant Sciences under his belt, completed in 2025 after three years of part-time study, remote learning and visits to the Lancaster campus from his Kew Gardens home where he lives with his wife and two sons.

In 2012, just six months after joining Kew, Kevin became the youngest manager of the arboriculture team at 27. His predecessors often had to work there a decade before promotion.

Having taken on more of a managerial role, Kevin’s unusual academic journey began when he started a Foundation Degree course in Arboriculture at Myerscough College in 2016 and it was lecturers there who suggested he should do more research at Lancaster.

“It’s harder to find universities which still offer degrees in Plant Sciences but Lancaster Environment Centre is one of the best places to do the research I’m interested in and has fantastic facilities.”

By the time his studies began at Lancaster, Kevin had been promoted again to his present post which involves curating and managing Kew’s unique collections of trees from across the world for the purpose of scientific research and conservation.

“When I took over, it was quite a daunting prospect having responsibility for 11,000 trees.”

But Kevin’s ambition to ensure the future of those trees and others coming after, in the light of climate change, has fuelled his research.

“I’m dyslexic and wasn’t academic but it’s really become part of me now. It’s great that Lancaster provides distance learning and the University is very supportive of my work. I would recommend it to anyone with a passion and enthusiasm.”

During his studies, Kevin is in permanent contact with his supervisors, Prof Ian Dodd and Dr Marjorie Lundgren, both online and face-to-face, and has also presented a lecture about his research at the Environment Centre.

For his PhD, which he began this year, Kevin is researching strategies for creating resilient urban forests under future climate scenarios.

“向日葵视频ing part-time is incredibly helpful, because trees are slow growing so need a minimum of three growing seasons to see results. I’m able to collect all my data in the summer when the trees are growing and use the winter to write it all up.”

Kevin’s main focus is urban trees. He’s given evidence on how climate change is affecting them to parliamentary committees and written a major report on the potential impact of climate change on London’s 1.2 million trees which has led to the mayor releasing ?90,000 for more research.

“It amazes me how many people don’t realise what impact our urban trees have on our environment.”

Kevin’s interest in the subject was sparked by his favourite tree at Kew, the chestnut leaf oak. “I really wanted to understand why Kew’s biggest tree has grown so successfully and how we can use trees in the urban environment to combat climate change.”

Kevin is interested to find out which trees will grow best in a changing climate, as Kew, like many places in the south of England, is experiencing more droughts and heatwaves.

He is the first arboriculturist at Kew to do such research and has become one of their scientific leads working on a strategy which will make trees a priority there for the first time.

In his job, Kevin works with many academics and scientists and believes that his background as a tree surgeon and his dyslexia help him to look at solving problems differently and raise issues that others might miss.

His ambition is for Kew to become the leading authority in advising the right trees are planted in the right place for the future, using a variety of methods, including grafting, and also influence the trade to which he once belonged.

Thanks to the media training which Kew, as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, provides, Kevin has been able to spread the word through appearances on news bulletins, BBC Two’s Gardeners’ World, Gardeners’ Question Time and even Nature Table with Sue Perkins, both on Radio 4.

And like many of Kew’s plant collectors before him, the 40-year-old has had the opportunity to travel the world with a particular highlight being the Caucasus.

“I’m very fortunate to be in this role and on an interesting career path I never thought I’d take.”