Dr. Jo Phillips

I am a landscape architect and horticulturalist. My research interest is around human engagement with plants, wild nature, rural landscapes and contested landscapes. I spend most of my time thinking and reading about plants, talking and teaching about them, or observing and tending them. I like to watch and understand how plants work, and this is my priority in teaching students to be confident in designing with them. Every plant has something to teach us and bring us much joy!

Alongside this obsession runs my career as an educator, previously of all age groups, but now in higher education. Once you have taught 4-year-olds to sow seeds, undergrad and postgrad students are a dream, so since 2011 I have taught at Manchester Metropolitan University and now the University of Sheffield. Here, my focus is a process-based appreciation of planting that celebrates the wild and the tame.

Unexpectedly, my PhD (2019) was about public engagement with the landscapes of the proposed HS2 high speed rail line in Cheshire, through the lens of Complexity theory. Inspired to action by threats to ancient woodland, the research emerged in unpredictable ways.

Most recently I have written a book, ‘The Backpackers’ Guide to University, an Undergraduate’s Guide to Travelling Well and Staying the Course’ (Crown House, 2025) in which, with my co-author Martin Griffin, we draw on our 45 years’ experience teaching undergraduates and sixth formers to bring students the ultimate guide to making the most of their time in further education. We demystify the language of university and share guidance on adjusting to university study, campus life and independent learning.  

The book urges students to embrace the 'backpacker approach', a transformative mindset that will empower them to immerse themselves in the spirit of adventure and seize every opportunity that university life has to offer.