Rena Martins Farias Rena Martins Farias was born in São Salvador da Baía, in Brazil in 1934. During her childhood the smells, colours and flavours of foods enchanted her. One of the first graduates of Birmingham University’s M Sc course on plant genetic resources, Rena Martins Farhas has devoted the past 40 years to the conservation and use of plant genetic resources. Starting in the 1970s, Farias worked as a plant collector, carrying out nearly 70 collecting missions in Cyprus, Morocco, Tunisia and Turkey. She was instrumental in the establishment in 1996 of the “Banco Português de Germoplasma Vegetal - BPGV” facilities in her adopted country of Portugal. She has been tireless in her efforts to ensure the conservation of Portugal’s native diversity. Throughout the years she has demonstrated a continuing commitment to international collaboration and to building strong links with scientific partners around the world. Farias retired in 2004 but she has continued to ‘spread the word,’ advising and inspiring researcher. On 5 September 2006, the Portuguese government recognized Farias’ lifetime achievements by awarding her the “Order of Agriculture, Commercial and Industrial Merit”, “Class of Agriculture Merit”.