Sally Petitt began her career in 1988 as a trainee horticultural technician at Cambridge University Botanic Garden. During her career at Cambridge she has had responsibility for several sections, including alpines, and is now Head of Horticulture.

She has travelled in Europe and Asia studying plants in their natural habitat, and has twice received funding from the Merlin Trust for plant collecting expeditions to Pakistan and China. She has written for a number of publications including Curtis’s Botanical Magazine and The Garden.

Currently Sally is chair of the Merlin Trust.