Dr. Sarah Matthews of the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, along with postdoctoral fellows Dr. NathalieNagalingum and Dr. Hardeep Rai, collected samples from 80 taxa in MBC’s tropical conifer collection for DNA 
analysis. This collection constitutes a significant contribution to the Gymnosperms on the Tree of Life project, funded by the National Science Foundation. During her time at MBC, Dr. Matthews expressed her appreciation of the great value of ex situ collections for fundamental botanical research, emphasizing that work such as the Tree of Life project would not be feasible without such collections.
Dr. Matthews’ sampling follows another very large contribution to the Gymnosperm Tree of Life by MBC’s Cycad Collection, through the work of Drs. Dennis Stevenson and Damon Little. MBC’s Palm Collection is slated to make a large contribution towards construction of the monocot branch of the Tree of Life in the coming months.