Kate Hooper

After graduating from Barts Medical College Kate pursued a career in General Practice for over 35 years. She hung up the stethoscope in 2021 when her first grandson was born. Her love of plants had begun with a small patch of garden allocated to her aged five and led to studying Garden Design and Horticulture at the beginning of the millennium, culminating in Perfect Circle Designs a successful partnership which designed gardens throughout East Anglia and the South East of England.

Kate was delighted to be accepted as a Volunteer Guide at Cambridge University Botanic Garden in 2022 and then become part of the volunteer team in Cambridge Herbarium. Both these roles inspired her to find out more about Professor John Stevens Henslow who founded the Botanic Garden in its current location and who did so much to promote understanding of the Natural World . This research led her to write her first book, ‘Who was Henslow?’ A small but richly illustrated paperback book, aimed at the general reader with an interest in horticulture, natural science and social history.