Meet the SCSG Executive Committee
Co-Chairs: Marian Chau and Uromi Goodale
Dr. Marian M. Chau is Head of Restoration Ecology for Terraformation, and owner of Kalehua Seed Conservation Consulting, providing expertise and support to partners in Hawai‘i and worldwide. She previously curated Hawai‘i’s largest seed bank collection and conducted research on seed storage behavior, germination, and rare/endangered species at the Lyon Arboretum for over 5 years. She received her M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Botany (2012) from University of Hawai‘i, USA.
Dr. Uromi Manage Goodale is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health and Environmental Sciences at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, in Suzhou, China. Her research focuses on seed bio-physiology, ecology, and conservation. She received her Masters in Forest Science (2001) and her Ph.D. (2009) from Yale University, USA.
They founded the Seed Conservation Specialist Group (SCSG) in 2016, and are serving as its Co-Chairs for the 2017-2020 and 2021-2024 quadrennia. They are pictured in Abu Dhabi, UAE at the 2019 IUCN Species Survival Commission Leaders’ Meeting.
Deputy Chair: Dustin Wolkis
Dr. Dustin Wolkis is the Seed Bank and Laboratory Manager at the National Tropical Botanical Garden on the island of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, and was previously a Research Assistant at the Desert Botanical Garden Seed Bank. He received his M.Sc. in Plant Biology and Conservation (2016) from Arizona State University, USA, and completed his Ph.D. at the University of Copenhagen, Denmark (2023) focusing on seed conservation. He helped found the SCSG in 2016 and has served as Deputy Chair since 2017.
Secretariat: Charlotte Ely
Charlotte Ely is the Conservation Services Officer at Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI), based in the UK. She manages The Global Botanic Garden Fund as well as other awards and bursaries, such as the Global Seed Conservation Challenge Awards. Prior to joining BGCI she was Technical Officer at the Western Australian Herbarium, where she was a contributor to the Flora of Australia collection in the Atlas of Living Australia. Charlotte was trained in horticulture and conservation & land management at Kings Park and Botanic Garden in Perth, Western Australia, where she worked in the Botanic Garden, nursery, bushland, and Western Australia Seed Centre.
Diana Castillo-Díaz
Dr. Diana Castillo-Díaz serves as the SCSG Focal Point for Communications. She is a Colombian National trained in forestry (B.Sc. 2010), forest management, and conservation at the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil (M.Sc. 2013), and forest ecology at Guangxi University, China (Ph.D. 2021). Her main research interest is seed-seedling ecophysiology, forest conservation, and restoration, which has inspired her to work in different forest types in South America and South Asia. She is the recipient of the 2020 Harvard University Arnold Arboretum Ashton Award for Student Research. Currently, she is a Restoration Ecology Specialist at Terraformation.
Namrata Pradhan
Dr. Namrata Pradhan serves as the SCSG Focal Point for Early Career Engagement. She is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Seed and Stress Biology team at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wakehurst, UK. She is involved with the Global Tree Seed Bank: Unlocked programme of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Her research aims to to establish effective cryobiotechnological approaches for the long-term ex situ conservation of trees, to protect against biodiversity loss and provide options for forest restoration in the future. She received her M.Sc. (2015) from Loyola College, India, and her Ph.D. in Ecology (2022) from Guangxi University, P. R. China.
Pedro León Lobos
Dr. Pedro León serves as the SCSG Focal Point for Conservation Planning. He is a member of the Plant Genetic Resources Programme at Instituto de Investigaciones Agropecuarias, Santiago, Chile. Pedro has over 25 years of experience in seed bank management and plant conservation. He received his M.Sc. in Botany (1993) from Universidad de Chile and his Ph.D. in Agriculture and Food (2000) from the University of Reading, UK.
Past Leadership Team Members
Anurag Dhyani
Dr. Anurag Dhyani served as the SCSG Focal Point for Ex Situ Conservation for the 2017-2020 Quadrennium. He is a Scientist at the Division of Conservation Biology, Jawaharlal Nehru Tropical Botanic Garden and Research Institute, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India. He is conducting research on seed storage behaviour, dormancy, germination, and propagation of native plants in India. He received his Ph.D. in Plant Physiology (2012) from High Altitude Plant Physiology Research Centre, H.N.B. Garhwal University (Central), Srinagar Garhwal, Uttarakhand, India.
Katherine O’Donnell
Katherine O’Donnell helped found the SCSG in 2016 and served as Secretariat from 2017-2023. She was the Head of Seed Conservation and Plant Health at Botanic Gardens Conservation International, managed BGCI’s Global Seed Conservation Challenge and provided administrative support to the SCSG. She received her M.Sc. in Ecology, Evolution, and Conservation (2011) from Imperial College London, UK.