David De Groot has been curator of Weyerhaeuser’s Pacific Rim Bonsai Collection since its creation in 1989. He is an award-winning designer and author who has been studying and practicing bonsai since 1972. He has studied bonsai in Japan with Yasuo Mitsuya, satsuki with Tatemori Gondo and Hayata Nakayama, and display with Uhaku Sudo. His educational journal articles have been published throughout the U.S. and in eight foreign countries, and his book, “Basic Bonsai Design,” is now in its sixth printing. De Groot travels widely to lecture, and has presented programs across the U.S. and in Brazil, Canada, China, England, South Africa and Venezuela. He is active with several bonsai organizations in the Puget Sound area and has served two terms on the board of directors of the American Bonsai Society.