New York Botanical Garden

Have you ever wondered how bromeliads and other "air plants" manage to thrive up in the limbs of trees, when most plants rely on soil and underground roots to survive? During his time at New College in Florida, NYBG's Dr. Brad Oberle and his colleagues led a team of students while they studied the giant air plant (Tillandsia utriculata), a state-endangered plant in Florida. Come see what they learned in the latest from the National Tropical Botanical Garden! https://brnw.ch/21wNb6L

As we face challenges to food security, climate resilience, and a sustainable future, 49 scientists including NYBG's Chief Science Officer, Mauricio Diazgranados, PhD, have come together to pool their solutions in a new publication out now in the journal Nature Sustainability. Learn more in "Adapting Wild Biodiversity Conservation Approaches to Conserve Agrobiodiversity."

Last call for our 2024 #ClimateWeek conference! We’ll be in Ross Hall this Thursday, September 26 for a day-long event featuring a keynote from anthropologist and ethnobotanist Wade Davis on his work in the Amazon rain forest. With panels of scientists and other experts, a screening of the new film “Blue Carbon” about the ocean’s miraculous carbon storage abilities, and a closing talk about the importance of “supertrees” to the environment, come see how we’re using biodiversity to make our climate more resilient.

No matter HOW you say it, fungi keep the world in order—because without them, we’d be buried under the remains of every organism that ever lived. ???? In our latest episode of #PlantPeople with PRX, we sit down with Merlin Sheldrake, biologist and author of Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures, to talk fungi. Mushrooms are a culinary sensation, sure, but they’re also lifeforms that we’re still trying to understand. Join in as we learn how the grim work of fungi—death, decay, and “the end” of organic life—is key to the survival of all living things, and far from a foraging fad, mycology is at the root of Earth’s ability to function. Listen to the last episode of our podcast’s inaugural season, and don’t forget to rate and subscribe! https://brnw.ch/21wN1Ya

Interested in bringing nature into your curriculum? Join NYBG Children’s Education for a Teacher Open House on October 9, featuring the stunning setting of Wonderland: Curious Nature. Drop in anytime from 3–5 p.m. to enjoy light refreshments, tours of the exhibition, and learn first-hand about the transformative school field trip and teacher professional learning offerings across our incredible 250-acre landscape This Open House is free—be sure to invite your colleagues! RSVP now.

In Vanuatu, the traditional practice of "weather magic"—an understanding of how natural forces impact agriculture and wellbeing—is disappearing as local languages and the knowledge within them fade. But together with NYBG scientists, residents of the island nation are working to preserve this important traditional know-how. “Loss of this information reduces a community’s ability to cope with the rapid pace of climate change, compromising traditional livelihoods,” say Drs. Mike Balick and Greg Plunkett of NYBG. Learn more about the ongoing effort to preserve these teachings in The Guardian.

At this year’s annual NYBG #ClimateWeek conference, we’re putting biodiversity front and center as a tool for solving our climate crisis. ???? Don't miss your seat at this year's event, where ethnobotanist, author, and explorer Wade Davis shares his collaborations with the Amazon’s Indigenous peoples to protect ecologically rich zones. With a panel of experts discussing how we can bring a halt to biodiversity loss, a screening of the new documentary "Blue Carbon" about the ocean's miraculous carbon storing powers, and a discussion on the significance of "supertrees," it's sure to be a highlight of the year.

We’re looking for a Vice President of Audience Strategy—a leader in marketing and communications who’ll help steer NYBG’s continued growth, inspiring our current diverse audiences and captivating new ones. Working across the institution, you’ll be raising the profile of NYBG while collaborating with and leading marketing, digital, communications, and creative team members, ensuring we’re reaching current and future fans of the Garden with our world-class exhibitions, retail portfolio, science programs, and community initiatives. Think you might be the right fit? Learn more and apply. https://brnw.ch/21wMDEc

“I love okra. It’s in everything that I do. It kind of represents in some ways the ubiquity of the Africans in diaspora.” In this week’s episode of the #PlantPeople podcast with PRX, we’re joined by renowned culinary historian, author, and NYBG Trustee Dr. Jessica B. Harris, curator of the African American Garden. Over the last three years, this collection has used plants like okra to tell the stories of migration, dispossession, and reclamation that inform so much of the African American experience—and define much of what American cuisine is today. As we stroll the space with Dr. Harris, hear about the ways the African diaspora has, over the course of more than 500 years, transformed the Western Hemisphere with its cultures, labor, and agricultural know-how. Hear the full episode—and be sure to subscribe, rate, and review. https://brnw.ch/21wMu8p

There's a "dark side" to the house plant craze that's swept the country in the last few years, one that's led to illegal and unsustainable commercial collecting of plants in the wild. On Scientific American's "Science Quickly" podcast, NYBG's Director of Glasshouse Horticulture, Marc Hachadourian, shares what YOU can do to make sure your green roommates are ethically sourced. After you listen, don't miss Marc diving even deeper into houseplants on our very own podcast, #PlantPeople! https://brnw.ch/21wMo2q