Sharon Willoughby is a graduate of the Fenner School of Environment & Society at the Australian National University. There, she completed her doctoral work, titled Gardening the Australian Landscape, in which sher researched the environmental history of the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne.

Sharon has relocated to London and is working as the Head of Interpretation at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - telling stories about Kew landscapes, plants and botanic science, which she has written about here. She is currently working on projects to decolonise Kew science and a reinterpretation of Kew's iconic Palm House.