Stephen Blackmore studied botany at the University of Reading where he began his interest in the organization of plants at a microscopic level. In 1999 he was appointed Regius Keeper at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Edinburgh where he has promoted two causes he is passionate about: plant conservation and public engagement with science. He was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in 2001, awarded the title of Her Majesty's Botanist in Scotland in 2010 and Knight Commander of the British Empire in 2011.