futures❵KEW GARDENS
(Clockwise from top left)
Cattleya quadricolor, Cyrtochillum macranthum,
Flagship Guatemala Guarianthe skinneri, Cypripedium calcicolum
From small seeds... I
futures_summer12.indd 18
Sometimes life takes you in directions you would never have expected. Phil Seaton (BSc Applied Biology, 1970) and Tim Marks (BSc Applied Biology, 1978) de- scribe their journeys from Hatfield Polytechnic to their joint work on an orchid conservation project at Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) in West Sussex.
t was only after several years working together that Phil and Tim realised that they
were both graduates of Hatfield Polytechnic. Although their study dates didn’t overlap, some lecturers and local haunts were remembered, and this started them thinking about the different paths they had taken to find themselves working on the same orchid seed storage project decades later. Phil’s story is one of chance and good fortune. In common with many youngsters,
he didn’t have a clue what he wanted to do after school and came from a family with no academic background. He arrived at Hatfield in September 1966, two weeks after the term had started, having been persuaded at the last minute by his biology teacher to apply for
clearing. Tim started the course on time in 1974, his decision to study biology jointly dictated by an interest in Marine Biology and watching Jacques Cousteau films. For both, one of the attractions of the course was its practical bias and industrial placements. Phil experienced an enjoyable year in diabetes research at Burroughs Wellcome, where his
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14/04/2012 18:05
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