British specialist in taxonomy and conservation of Cactaceae. Nigel Taylor is a former curator of living collections at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and now holds the post of Director of Singapore Botanical Garden. Born in London, Taylor studied botany at the University of Reading (BSc 1977). He was awarded his PhD in 2000 by the Open University, his thesis entitled, "The Taxonomy and Phytogeography of the Cacti of Eastern Brazil". After graduating from Reading Taylor joined the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew as a horticultural taxonomist, later becoming a herbarium taxonomist. In 1995 he was appointed Curator (Head) of the Horticulture and Public Experience department. His research specialism (Cactaceae systematics and biogeography) has taken him on many collecting and study trips to South America. In the 1980s he visited Mexico and Venezuela several times, also looking at plants in the Crassulaceae family in the latter country. He has also visited Argentina (2004) and Cuba (2005), though not for collecting purposes, and has visited Brazil almost every year since 1988, sometimes collecting herbarium material. Taylor has more than 200 publications to his name including the books The Genus Melocactus in Central and South America (1991), Threatened Cacti of Mexico (1994), Cacti of Eastern Brazil (2004) and The New Cactus Lexicon (2006). He has also held many editorial positions on journals including Bradleya and the Cactus & Succulent Journal of Great Britain. He has been involved with the World Wildlife Fund (US), the International Organization for Succulent Plant Study, IUCN-SSC Cactus and Succulent Specialist Group and the International Cactaceae Systematics Group.

Sources:
Personal communication, June 2009.