Environmental educators everywhere work in a constantly shifting landscape, from changing demographics that offer new opportunities and challenges, to an increase in the scale and scope of environmental and social issues facing every community on the...

Southern pine species such as loblolly, longleaf, shortleaf, and slash cover much of the 
southeastern U.S., and are a critical component of the region’s economy.  Loblolly pine is the 
most widely planted species in the southeastern...

Haiti is home to an incredible flora of around 5,000 documented plant species. Within these, over 210 endemic shrub and tree species have been identified. These plants have only one home in the world, and it is here. Many other species have small...

Large-scale global reforestation goals have been proposed to help mitigate climate change and provide other ecosystem services. To explore reforestation potential in the United States, we used GIS analyses, surveys of nursery managers and foresters,...

Bees, bats and butterflies all have one thing in common — they are pollinators! Pollination is a process that is imperative to the success of nearly all-terrestrial life on earth. Humans need healthy pollinator populations to support our food system...

The term “urban forest” is often used to refer to all the trees within a city or town. But the urban forest is part of a much larger social-ecological landscape that supports a complex web of biodiversity, ecosystem services, values, and cultures.  The...

Changes in phenology induced by climate change occur across the globe with important
implications for ecosystem functioning and services, species performance and trophic
interactions. Much of the work on phenology, especially leaf out and...

The contributions of crop wild relatives (CWR) to food security depend on their conservation and accessibility for use. The United States contains a diverse native flora of CWR, including those of
important cereal, fruit, nut, oil, pulse, root...

Diversification of urban forests is essential to enhance their resilience to future biotic
threats as well as those posed by a changing climate. Arboreta and botanic gardens
host a wide range of plant material that can be evaluated to...

Through a case study from Washington, DC, participants will learn how to get feedback from historically underrepresented groups and tailor cooperative extension programs to people of different races, ages, and academic backgrounds.

Some people...

Positive interactions between people and nature inspire behaviours that are in harmony
with biodiversity conservation and also afford physical and mental health benefits.
Since most people live in towns and cities, urban greenspaces are...

“Plant blindness” is the cause of several problems that have plagued botany outreach
and education for over a hundred years. The general public largely does not notice
plants in their environment and therefore do not appreciate how...

Digital media offers a unique set of properties which are not being utilized to their full potential
at public gardens. Digital repositories along with videography and technology have existed in
organizations such as universities and...

The United Nations' Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 17 calls for “strong global partnerships and cooperation” to support the other SDGs. The collections-based science community offers many examples of conservation of plant and fungal biodiversity,...

Universities and other higher education institutions have a critical role in helping
society achieve the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through their research,
learning and teaching, campus operations and leadership. This guide...

The adoption of a Global Strategy for Plant Conservation (GSPC) in 2002 and its subsequent renewal in 2010 were significant milestones for the Convention on Biological Diversity. Not only did this strategy, its objectives and targets provide a valuable...

Contemporary climate change is exposing plant populations to novel combinations of
temperatures, drought stress, and other abiotic and biotic conditions. These changes are
rapidly disrupting the evolutionary dynamics of plants. Despite...

Palms (Arecaceae) are a relatively speciose family and provide materials for food, construction, and handicraft, especially in the tropics. They are frequently used as paleo-indicators for megathermal climates, and therefore, it is logical to predict...

The guide provides a detailed the native plants of New York that are crucial for supporting native specialist bees; including, where the region or habitat the plant occurs naturally, date of bloom, color of bloom, plant structure, how to obtain seeds...

Native plants are important to the landscape. However, there is little clear information out there informing the lay public on native plant scientific benefits, uses in the landscape, and sourcing of plants. As centers of science, public gardens have a...