Montgomery Botanical Center’s achievements in ex situ conservation were featured at the “Collections Management Best Practices” symposium organized by the American Public Gardens Association.  The symposium took place at the Denver Botanic Gardens in Colorado from October 13-15 and offered many opportunities for more than 100 public garden curators to share expertise and different approaches to managing living collections.

MBC Collections Manager Dr. Chad Husby presented a talk entitled “Managing Living Plant Collections for Conservation” that emphasized MBC’s pursuit of fieldwork, research, horticulture, and mutually beneficial collaborations to achieve successful ex situ conservation outcomes.

Chad was asked to participate as an expert in managing living plants for conservation purposes. Chad states, “The symposium was very well organized by APGA and the Denver Botanic Gardens, offering a unique opportunity to share insights into the best ways to manage living collections”

The conference also featured a tour of the USDA’s National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation which gave the participants an opportunity to explore state of the art techniques for preserving seeds and other types of plant material.