After a PhD on the East African coastal forests, I worked for DFID, in Kumasi (Ghana), with the Ghana Forestry Department on plant ecology, identification and biodiversity assessment, producing field guides and a national strategy for forest conservation. Since 1992, I have worked part-time in the Department of Plant Sciences, mainly in West Africa, on forest regeneration after logging, field guides, biodiversity assessment and databases with a special interest in woody plants. I currently work on Darwin Initiative projects in Chile, Trinidad and Tobago, and on the Virtual Field Herbarium. The Virtual Field Herbarium includes a large image database and assistance in building plant field guides. The Herbarium is described here.