Patrick Brownsey is New Zealand’s leading authority on ferns, having published more than 50 scientific papers, and has travelled widely in New Zealand to study its fern flora. John Smith-Dodsworth was born in North Yorkshire, England and came to New Zealand in 1956. He has lived in the Coromandel since 1968 and during his time there developed his interest in ferns, further increasing the knowledge he had built over the previous twenty years, and developed his skills as a photographer of native plants.