Jaime Güemes, new Botanical Garden director, is doctor of Biology and curator of scientific collections. He is specialised in plant taxonomy (taxonomy, morphology, nomenclature, and phylogeny) and conservation of endangered flora (reproductive biology, genetic variety, population dynamics, and red lists). He got his PhD thesis under the direction of professor Isabel Mateu and he took part in the Botanical Garden restoration (1989-1991), headed by professor Manuel Costa.

Jaime Güemes has published more than a hundred research works in national and international journals and has participated in more than fifty research projects and contracts, mainly as a principal researcher, on systematics, conservation, and scientific collections data bases. Furthermore, he has been the regional coordinator and researcher in the Atles de Flora Espanyola Amenaçada (2000-2010); researcher on the Flora Ibérica project since 1995; responsible for the Seguiment de la Diversitat Vegetal Espanyola i d’Avaluació del Compliment dels Objectius de l’Estratègia Mundial de Conservació de Plantes; and researcher on some European projects such as the Spanish and Portuguese Platform for Botanical Diversity Data Online, Genmedoc (on Mediterranean network of germplasm banks), and Semclimed (on the effects of climate change in Mediterranean plants germination). He has recently appointed a new vascular plant genus: Gadoria falukei.

As a director of the Botanical Garden, Güemes counts on his experience of scientific societies management, on his role as president of the Spanish Society for Plants Conservation Biology (2000-2015) and president of the Committee of Flora in the IUCN’s Spanish Committee. He is also member of the Scientific Wild Flora Advisory Council of the Valencian Government, and advisor in the Biodiversity Data Base of Valencia. Furthermore, he was an adjunct lecturer in the Universitat de València (2007-2013), lecturer of the Research Institute for Biodiversity master’s degree in Biodiversity at the Univesity of Alicante (2002-2016), and has been director of some PhD thesis and final projects.

The Botanical Garden staff is very pleased after the appointment since they are aware that Güemes knows the institution and the needs and challenges to come in the next years very well.

The Botanical Garden of the Universitat de València was founded in 1567 as a cultivated plot used to grow medicinal plants, linked to studies in Medicine. In 1802, the gardens were moved to the Hort de Tramoieres, its current location, near to the Torres de Quart. During the 19^th century, and part of the 20^th, classes in Botany were given there and plant acclimatisation experiments were carried out. At the end of the 20^th century, after falling into abandon, a process of restoration was launched in 1987 under the direction of Manuel Costa, ending with the inauguration of a new research building in 2000.  Nowadays, the Botanical Garden carries out research into plant diversity, conservation of rare, endemic or endangered species of Mediterranean flora and the conservation of natural habitats. To meet the University Statutes serving as a research, educational and cultural centre, it offers an intensive educational activity mainly aimed to students, which is completed with a variety of cultural and informative activities.

More information: www.jardibotanic.org