Brandan Espe is an ecologist with the Estate Directorate, who curates the living collections of James Cook University and manages the TropEco program. In recent years his focus has been around threatened plant conservation, carrying out field collections and surveys of over 80 endangered species in the past 2 years alone.  Highlights have been the rediscovery of species not seen in over 20 years, cultivating several species with less than 50 remaining in the world and guiding student interns in how to work with these rarities.