Simon Stephen Milne (born January 1959) is a British marine officer and conservationist who has been Regius Keeper of the

Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) is a scientific centre for the study of plants, their diversity and conservation, as well as a popular tourist attraction. Founded in 1670 as a physic garden to grow medicinal plants, today it occupies ...

since 2014.

Early life and military career

Born in 1959, Milne was educated at the

University of St Andrews (Aien aristeuein) , motto_lang = grc , mottoeng = Ever to ExcelorEver to be the Best , established = , type = Public research university Ancient university , endowment ...

and the

Royal Naval College, Greenwich The Royal Naval College, Greenwich, was a Royal Navy training establishment between 1873 and 1998, providing courses for naval officers. It was the home of the Royal Navy's staff college, which provided advanced training for officers. The equiv ...

. He was commissioned into the

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

in 1976 and served in Northern Ireland and Bosnia. He was appointed a member of the

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

in 1996. He reached the rank of lieutenant colonel and was invalided in 2000. He was later made a member of Her Majesty's bodyguard of the Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms in July 2011.

Conservation career

Milne was director of the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens and Arboretum from 2000 to 2004 and chief executive of the

Scottish Wildlife Trust The Scottish Wildlife Trust is a registered charity dedicated to conserving the wildlife and natural environment of Scotland. Description The Scottish Wildlife Trust has well over 35,000 members. The Scottish Wildlife Trust acquired its first w ...

from October 2004 until February 2014. Starting in 2007, he co-led the trial reintroduction of the European beaver to Scotland, with the Scottish Wildlife Trust working alongside the

Royal Zoological Society of Scotland The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland is a learned society and registered charity based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was founded by Thomas Haining Gillespie in 1909. In 1913, Edinburgh Town Council bought a large plot of land on Corstorphine ...

. He is the founder of the World Forum on Natural Capital and has specific interest and expertise in translocations, public engagement with the natural environment, biodiversity conservation and ecosystem scale approach. Milne was appointed the 16th Regius Keeper of the

in February 2014, replacing botanist

Stephen Blackmore Stephen Blackmore CBE FRSE FRSB FLS (born 30 July 1952) is a British botanist, who was educated at St. George's School, Hong Kong and the University of Reading where he completed his PhD in 1976 on the "Palynology and Systematics of the Ci ...

. He is a fellow of the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

and was conferred an honorary professor of the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

, associated to the School of Biological Sciences in January 2016.

Personal life

Milne married his wife Françoise in 1993 and the couple have three children together. Originally from France, she applied for dual-nationality following the

2016 EU referendum The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...

but her application was rejected, leading the couple to publicly criticise the uncertainty created by

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAE ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Milne, Simon Living people Alumni of the University of St Andrews British conservationists Members of the Order of the British Empire Fellows of the Royal Geographical Society Honourable Corps of Gentlemen at Arms 1959 births