Matthew B. Johnson holds a B.S. in Agriculture and a M.S. in Horticulture from the University of Arizona. He currently serves as the Program Manager and Curator for the Desert Legume Program, a joint project of the University of Arizona College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Boyce Thompson Arboretum. Previous to this he served as Botany Curator for Tohono Chul Park, in Tucson. He has authored over 60 published articles on botany and horticulture of plants from arid regions. He is a co-author of The trees of Sonora, Mexico (2001, Oxford University Press) and author of Cacti, other succulents, and unusual xerophytes of southern Arizona (2004, Boyce Thompson Arboretum). He is also a botanical illustrator and photographer, with line illustrations and photographs appearing in several books and numerous publications. His travels have taken him to 15 countries on six continents with extensive travels to study and photograph plants and plant habitats in dry regions of the southwestern United States, and in Mexico, Argentina, Australia and South Africa.