Publications & Documents

The Missouri Botanic Garden (MBG) strategic plan is a great example for new and emerging gardens or gardens in the process of having to go through another strategic planning process and want to look at another botanical gardens goals, values, and vision. 

The goals of the MBG Strategic Plan are to:

-Map the current and emerging stakeholders of the Garden (in the scientific,
conservation, horticultural and education communities and beyond). Identify
how the Garden is most relevant to their objectives and interests.

Botanic gardens play major roles in plant conservation globally. Since the 1980s, the number of botanic gardens worldwide and their involvement in integrating ex situ and in situ plant conservation has increased signifi cantly, with a growing focus on understanding, documenting, and capturing genetic diversity in their living collections. This article outlines why genetic diversity is important for conservation, and explores how botanic gardens can establish and expand the use of molecular techniques to support their plant conservation efforts.

Hear from three experts exploring research, strategies, and benefits of connecting people to nature: Louise Chawla, University of Colorado; Lauren Watkins, Impact by Design; and Sheila Williams-Ridge, University of Minnesota. 

• Many exotic plant pests and pathogens are unknown prior to their establishment, making prevention and management difficult.
• Sentinel plantings to detect pests and pathogens prior to introduction provide information about the likelihood of introduction and the potential impact on plants native to the importing country.           
• This paper discusses the different types of sentinel plantings based on the native range and age of the plants, their purpose, limitations and benefits.

Care farming is the therapeutic use of farming practices to provide health, social
or educational care services for a range of groups of vulnerable people. This includes
but is not limited to those with mental health problems, people suffering with substance
abuse, adults and children with learning disabilities and disaffected youth. Literature on
the process of designing for care farms is limited. This research sought to develop carefarm
design guidelines for landscape architects. The study identifies and analyzes

The invasive hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) has decimated hemlock stands across much of the eastern United States, and presents a significant threat to all eastern hemlock in Canada across Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, especially since the recent detection of its widespread establishment in southwest Nova Scotia. The spread and rising infestation level and impacts of HWA in this region serve as a warning for forest managers across eastern Canada to develop appropriate management plans and priorities.

An employee interview questionnaire can be useful when collecting data about current training provisions. The data collected from this type of questionnaire will help you identify whether there are inefficiencies within roles or the organization, whether training is the best response, or whether the best response may be related to hiring practices (such as hiring individuals with different qualifications).

Springside is a 20-acre park in Poughkeepsie, New York. Commissioned in 1850 by Matthew Vassar, beer brewer and founder of Vassar College, the private estate was both a pleasure ground and gentleman’s farm designed by America’s first and perhaps most influential landscape architect, A. J. Downing, with buildings designed by Downing and Calvert Vaux. Springside is the only extant landscape that can definitively be attributed to Downing, and as such has been a National Historic Landmark since 1969.

Natural history museums are unique spaces for interdisciplinary research and for educational
innovation. Through extensive exhibits and public programming and by hosting rich
communities of amateurs, students, and researchers at all stages of their careers, they provide a
place-based window to focus on integration of science and discovery, as well as a locus for
community engagement. At the same time, like a synthesis radio telescope, when joined together
through emerging digital resources, the global community of museums (the ‘Global Museum’) is

Retaining existing donors typically costs less than acquiring new ones, and reducing donor losses can be the most affordable strategy for most nonprofits to increase fundraising gains – yet so many nonprofits are missing out!

It’s time to ask yourself: Does your development department include a role that is responsible for tracking donor retention rates? Are your donor stewardship and recapture efforts automated, to save time and money for your staff?