Marc Freestone

Marc is a PhD Candidate at the Australian National University, based at the Orchid Conservation Program at the Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria. His project is investigating the cultivation of leek orchids (Prasophyllum), a large genus of native orchids with many endangered species that have so far proven extremely difficult to grow in captivity. Marc is exploring the relationships between the orchids and their symbiotic fungi, in the hope that understanding these relationships will hold the key to working out how to grow these endangered native orchids before they go extinct.

Marc previously worked as a laboratory technician with the Orchid Conservation Program and before that as a consultant botanist for many years. He is a regular radio guest on ABC Gippsland and coordinates the Victorian Botany Facebook page.