Agriculture is comprised of managed ecosystems, which can include forests, rangelands
and crops; these managed ecosystems are vital resources, providing a host

Biodiversity in and across food and agriculture systems provides tremendous value to present and future generations. However, across the world we are losing genes, species, and ecosystems faster than we can account for them.

Academic campuses across the Great Plains can serve as landscapes for teaching and learning about native flora of cultural importance with regard to food, medicine, and lifeways.

Despite the importance of bees, there is a gap in the public's understanding of them.

Social and emotional learning (SEL) is difficult work. It requires thinking and talking about ongoing emotions and relationships, topics that are complicated and sometimes taboo.

Urbanization, lack of contact with the natural world, and growing up removed from agriculture has contributed to a void of knowledge relating to food and food production, along with a phenomenon known as plant blindness.

K–12 Environmental Education: Guidelines for Excellence provides students, parents, caregivers, educators and others a roadmap to achieving environmental literacy by setting expectations for fourth (age 10), eighth (age 14) and twelfth grade (age 18) st

Children who spend more time outdoors are more physically active and have fewer behavioral problems than those who spend less time outdoors.

Capturing the attention of those beyond the “usual suspects” of botanical garden enthusiasts often requires creative leveraging of all available assets. These assets may include emblematic “umbrella” species outside of the plant kingdom.

Loaner programs including backpacks with naturalist equipment for children, GPS units for Geocaching, and iPods for Citizen Science, have become a popular and effective way for arboreta and botanical gardens to broaden the impact of their missions and i