Ted Botha is Professor of Botany and was Head of Department at Rhodes University in Grahamstown, South Africa. His research into plant structure and function is recognized internationally as well as locally, by the National Research Foundation. He serves on the organizing committees for several international plant structure–function groups, and is a former President of The South African Association of Botany. His contribution to teaching at Rhodes University was recognized through the award of the Vice Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award in 2005.

Dennis Wm Stevenson is currently Rupert Barneby Curator and Vice President for Botanical Science at the New York Botanical Garden. He also serves as editor of the journal Botanical Review, has published over 200 peer-reviewed papers, and edited 11 books ranging from horticulture to paleobotany to genomics. He holds adjunct faculty positions at City University of New York, Columbia University, Cornell University, New York University, and Yale University.