Montgomery’s work featured at Botanic Garden Science Congress

Montgomery Botanical Center’s work was featured at the 3rd Science in Botanic Gardens Congress (3SBGC). Patrick Griffith, Executive Director, was invited to present MBC’s work about the genetics of conservation collections.

Common themes on taxonomy, molecular biology and conservation science brought together scientists from many botanic gardens in Austria, Belgium, Ireland, Morocco, Poland, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, and The United States. The conference was sponsored by UNESCO, BGCI, and the Jardín Botánico Canario Viera y Clavijo, and convened in the historic Gabinete Literario in downtown Las Palmas de Gran Canaria.

Patrick’s talk, “Biology informs strategy: conservation genetics of botanic garden collections,” highlighted MBC’s studies on ex situ plant conservation, using model systems from the palm and cycad collections, and how these integrate with fieldwork (see March 1, 2014 post) and in situ conservation activities. These projects have been generously funded by the IMLS, the IPS, SOS-Save Our Species, and MBZ.