Helen Leach is a Professor of Anthropology at the University of Otago. Her research interests include the evolution of the human diet and prehistoric horticulture. She has written two garden history books: Cultivating Myths: Fiction, Fact and Fashion in Garden History (2000) and 1,000 Years of Gardening in New Zealand (1984), co-authored nine others, and published over 60 articles in international and New Zealand journals.