White appointed new head of publishing at Kew as Fullerlove retires

Lydia White has been appointed as the new head of publishing at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, as Gina Fullerlove retires after 19 years. 

White will start her new position in January 2023. She started her career as a scientist at Kew, and went on to join the publishing team as sales and marketing manager and has overseen the development and growth of Kew’s trade publishing titles into the market, including this summer’s The Kew Gardens Cookbook. Her first season of titles as publisher include Botany of the Kitchen Garden by Kew’s Hélèna Dove and Things To Do with Plants by Emma Crawforth. 

She said: “I am delighted to be taking on the role of head of publishing at Kew, and to continue the journey that Gina and I have been on in developing the list, creating authoritative, beautiful and accessible books for all ages. I look forward to publishing new and exciting stories from the world of plants, and to amplify Kew’s vital work to harness the power of plants and fungi to end the extinction crisis and secure a future for all life on Earth.” 

Fullerlove added: "It’s been a wonderful 19 years, building an incredibly diverse publishing list, from solid academic tomes to popular trade titles and giftbooks, for all ages. Working on list development together with Lydia we have forged valued partnerships with authors, and publishers with great brands, such as Big Picture Press’ Welcome to the Museum Series (really fun to work on). Lydia’s appointment will be terrific for the continuity of our list and ongoing relationships with our commercial publishing partners, I wish her every success. 

“We like to think Kew Publishing offers the best botanical titles in the world. With environmental issues such as global warming, food security and biodiversity loss, never has it been more important to bring nature, the world of plants, and the awesome things they do, to new audiences.”