New PSI Officers

At a meeting held on Tuesday 27th October 2026, the management committee of PSI accepted a letter from John Vanderplank resigning from the committee and the office of President of PSI as at the end of 2026, and a similar letter from Robert Rice resigning as at the same date from the offices of Vice President and Secretary, and stepping down from his role as Acting Editor of the journal. The committee expressed their gratitude to both for their hard work since their appointment in 2019, enabling the society to become the successful organisation it is today.

As a first step in appointing new officers, they co-opted as new members of the committee Raphael Maier, Elizabeth Peters,  Brooks Scharff and Martin Wettges with immediate effect, and Rob McPhail from 1st January 2027. As co-opted members, they must retire at the next General Meeting (ie the AGM expected to be held in summer 2027) but may offer themselves for re-election. Other members of the committee will be up for re-election in 2028.

The committee then appointed the following new officers with effect from 1st January 2027

  • President: Elizabeth Peters
  • Vice President: Markus Varga
  • Secretary: Brooks Scharff
  • Editor-in-chief (formerly known as Newsletter Editor): Martin Wettges
  • Social Media Officer: Raphael Maier
  • Journal Copy Editor: Daniel Medendorp

The following officers were confirmed as continuing in their roles:

  • Treasurer: Robert Rice (formerly Acting Treasurer)
  • Registrar: Raphael Maier
  • American Seedbank Administrator: Bob Holzinger
  • European Seedbank Administrator: Robert Dostal
  • Web Administrator: Brooks Scharff
  • Conservation Officer: Markus Varga
  • Journal Design Editor: Rob McPhail
  • Email Newsletter Editor: Robert Dostal
  • Conference Manager: Sergio Lloreda

Robert Rice
Secretary

First published on 3 November, 2026.