Ron Porley works for English Nature as a botanist and is chief adviser on bryophytes. Prior to that he worked for the Nature Conservancy Council and Shropshire Wildlife Trust. Formerly on the Council of the British Bryological Society, he currently sits on the BBS conservation committee, and is on the Board of the European Committee for the Conservation of Bryophytes. He has bryologised extensively in the British Isles, parts of Europe, Africa and elsewhere.