Sandra Knapp

The botanist Dr Sandra Knapp is a senior researcher at the Natural History Museum - but that title doesn’t convey the sheer adventure of her work. She’s a kind of Indiana Jones of the plant world, travelling to remote regions of Central and Southern America and beyond. Her speciality is the Solanum genus, which includes potatoes, tomatoes and aubergines – and she has found and named more than a hundred new varieties. The rainforests, where she has worked for more than 40 years, are a long way from the dry rural deserts of New Mexico, where she was born. Her music choices include works by Mozart, Brahms, Hindemith and Holst, as well as music inspired by the biodata of some of her beloved plants. Presenter Michael Berkeley Producer Katy Hickman

You can listen to Sandra Knapp online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Sandra Knapp is an episode from Private Passions by BBC.

This episode is 54:35 long.

This episode was published on Feb 1, 2026.

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