Emma Nicolson is a curator, writer, educator and producer, and head of visual arts at Creative Scotland, overseeing Scotland + Venice and support for artists and organisations. With 25 years across museums and galleries in the UK and Australia, she champions culture’s role in social and environmental justice.

As head of arts at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh she brought together botany, archives and scientists with contemporary artists, enabling new work rooted in plant humanities, climate justice and decolonial thought. Her work included the Climate House programme and collaboration with the Serpentine Galleries, collection‑based group exhibitions, and solo commissions from artists including; Christine Borland, Cooking Sections, Sakiya and Keg de Souza.

Earlier she led mulitdisciplinary teams at the Museum of Contemporary Art Sydney and the National Galleries of Scotland and founded the award‑winning ATLAS Arts on Skye. An honorary research associate at RBGE, Nicolson co‑leads the Getty‑funded project Plants on Paper, interrogating botanical art through decolonial and climate lenses. She sits on the board of Embrace Space residency and is a member of CIMAM and ICOM.

A regular speaker, mentor and essayist, she explores plant humanities, climate justice and decolonial practice. She is co‑editor and contributor to the forthcoming With Love. From an Invader: Rhododendrons, Empire, China and Me (Yan Wang Preston, The Eriskay Connection, 2025).