Baroness Katherine J. Willis CBE is Professor of Biodiversity in the Department of Biology and Principal of St Edmund Hall at the University of Oxford. Her research examines how plants and ecosystems respond to environmental change, with a particular focus on long-term records, natural variability and the conditions that support resilient landscapes and the ecosystem services they provide. She also serves as a Crossbench Life Peer in the House of Lords, contributing scientific and environmental evidence to the scrutiny of legislation.
She previously served as the first Director of Science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, where she helped shape the organisation’s scientific direction and led work on initiatives including Kew's Science Strategy and the State of the World's Plants and Fungi reports. Before that, she was the first holder of the Tasso Leventis Chair in Biodiversity at the University of Oxford. Alongside her academic roles, she has been closely involved in public understanding of science, writing and speaking about plant science, biodiversity and nature’s importance for human wellbeing, including through books such as Roots to Riches and Good Nature: the new science of how nature improves our health.
Professional position
- Professor of Biodiversity, Department of Biology, University of Oxford
Awards
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Michael Faraday Prize and Lecture
