Renata Mazzini Brazil & United Kingdom Click images to enlarge

After she finished an Architecture and Town Planning degree, Renata Mazzini did a short-term Landscape Design course, and worked for a nursery and garden centre in Brazil, where she is from. As she felt her knowledge of plants was not enough, she applied for the Internship Programme at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the United Kingdom, for three months. Renata became fascinated by the world of plants, and so applied for the Kew Diploma in Horticulture.

She is now a first year student, and as part of the three-year course, has had to develop a project in plant propagation and so chose to research the germination methods of Victoria amazonica. As she is Brazilian, she is very keen on investigating the plants that have her country as their native habitat.

Renata's paper was completed in March 2003. It provides a method that, though more tests are needed, may be a breakthrough in bringing Victoria seedlings through their most difficult stage.