Dr. Patrick Griffith, Montgomery Botanical Center’s executive director, represented MBC at two national meetings this summer—The American Public Gardens Association (APGA) conference, and the Botany 2006 conference.
The APGA selected MBC’s proposed symposium, titled “Cultivating Discoveries: Integrating Collections and Research” for inclusion in its 2006 conference held in San Francisco. Patrick moderated and spoke at this symposium, which also included lectures by Dr. Scott Zona of Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden, and Michael Dosmann of Cornell University. These lectures generated a very productive discussion about the future roles and uses of collections at botanic gardens.
At Botany 2006, held at Chico State University, Patrick presented Montgomery Botanical Center’s research on how hurricanes affect various species of palms differently. The abstract can be viewed here.
The uniting theme of these presentations is the importance of scientifically-documented live plant collections in advancing botanical knowledge. With its commitment to long-term stewardship of plant collections and data, Montgomery Botanical Center is a vital resource for advancing knowledge in tropical botany.