Her work in botanic gardens has seen her as supervisor of the Palm House at Kew in the 1980s, curator of the Chelsea Physic Garden in the 1990s and then on to be the horticultural director of the Eden Project. She has lived in the South West since 2001.

Sue is a trained historian and has authored several books on Kew and Chelsea Physic Garden and a garden history biography. She is an ambassador for diversity in public appointments, a previous trustee of the Horniman Museum and Gardens in London and a current trustee of an LGBT charity. The previous recipient of several HLF grants in her professional life, she is committed to ensuring that the South West receives its due share in support of the common heritage of us all.