Posted July 6, 2011 by Jennifer Ramp Neale, Director of Research & Conservation
Are you familiar with Denver Botanic Gardens Research & Conservation department? Have you ever wanted to know more about the type of research we do? We currently have ten staff in our Research & Conservation department with a lot of scientific expertise; we have three PhD and five MS degrees between us. In addition to our core staff, we have seven adjunct researchers collaborating with us on various projects ranging from curating our ethnobotanical collection, to evaluating revegetation practices after removal of invasive species. Our new brown bag series: Re-search the Gardens: Meet Our scientists will provide you with the opportunity to meet the Gardens’ scientists and learn about the great work we do to protect our region’s natural heritage.
The first talk in the series will be held on Wednesday July 13 in the Waring House Great Room from noon – 1 p.m.
The opening talk in the series ‘Conservation genetics at the Gardens: Using DNA to protect our rarest plants,’ will cover how and why we are using DNA to help conserve some of our rarest plants.
For more details on the series visit our website.
Posted June 21, 2011 by Kat Young, Former Interpretation Intern
Meet the Natives Lecture and Book Signing with Denver Botanic Gardens Native Plants Curator Dan Johnson
Thursday, June 23, 7 – 8:30 p.m., Gates Hall – Buy tickets
6-7 p.m. – Tour of the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium
View native plants of the southern Rocky Mountains through Dan Johnson’s creative curatorial eye – both in wild habitats and in garden settings. Johnson’s much-anticipated 2011 expansion of M. Walter Pesman’s 1942 Meet the Natives boasts not only additional plants, but also color photos that make identification of plants and wildflowers in Colorado’s scenic trails and byways easier than ever.
Johnson also addresses commonly encountered plants that actually are not native to the region and the problems they cause. Threatened and invasive species are duly noted as well. In this talk Dan presents commentary regarding which natives are well-suited for garden spaces, and which should be left to wild habitats.
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Posted June 20, 2011 by Jennifer Ramp Neale, Director of Research & Conservation
Adjunct Researcher Loraine Yeatts works in the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium
We have some exciting news to report from the Kathryn Kalmbach Herbarium and Sam Mitchel Herbarium of Fungi. Each collection has added a type specimen of a species new to science. A type specimen is a specimen selected to serve as a reference point when a plant or fungal species is first named. As a result, these specimens are extremely important to botanists and mycologists who are attempting to determine the correct application of a name.
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Posted May 20, 2011 by Jennifer Ramp Neale, Director of Research & Conservation
Denver Botanic Gardens staff and volunteers conduct annual monitoring of the Colorado hookless cactus
Did you know that more than 1350 species in the US are protected under the Endangered Species Act? A whopping 792 (57%) of them are plants. Today is the sixth annual Endangered Species Day, a day to celebrate our endangered species. There are 29 species in Colorado listed as Threatened or Endangered under the Endangered Species Act. Thirteen of them are plants and we at Denver Botanic Gardens are working to conserve each of them.
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Posted May 10, 2011 by Jennifer Ramp Neale, Director of Research & Conservation
The first week of May marked an important week for science at Denver Botanic Gardens. Both Sarada Krishnan, Director of Horticulture, and Melissa Islam, Associate Director of Research & Conservation, successfully defended their dissertations to earn their PhD.
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Dr. Krishnan in the village of Ambolotara in eastern Madagascar meets with one of the village chiefs
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Dr. Islam collects plants for herbarium specimens on the island of Grenada
Dr. Krishnan’s research focused on examining genetic diversity within Madagascan coffee species. Her study was undertaken using the collections maintained at the Kianjavato Coffee Research Station’s ex situ field genebank as well as wild populations. Overall she found high levels of diversity in Madagascan coffee species.
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Posted April 15, 2011 by Jennifer Ramp Neale, Director of Research & Conservation
Last week we were honored to co-host the Center for Plant Conservation Annual Meeting along with the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation (NCGRP) in Fort Collins. Conservation professionals from more than 20 botanic gardens, federal agencies, and organizations across the country gathered in Colorado for a four-day conference to celebrate our efforts to conserve our nation’s rarest plants.
The Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) is a consortium of botanic gardens dedicated to protecting our nation’s vanishing flora. Denver Botanic Gardens was one of the founding partners of the CPC 27 years ago (1984). We have been actively involved in seed collection and other conservation efforts in collaboration with the CPC ever since.
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Posted February 10, 2011 by Sarada Krishnan, Director of Horticulture
After visiting the Sierra Chincua Monarch Sanctuary, we spend the night at the village of Angangueo. A booming mining town at one time, Angangueo is located at an altitude of about 8,400 ft. Around this same time last year, this village was devastated by heavy rains and accompanying mud slides, which closed the whole village for several days causing economic hardship to the local folks dependent of tourists visiting Monarch butterfly sanctuaries. Remnants of the damage cause by the mudslide are still visible.
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Posted February 9, 2011 by Sarada Krishnan, Director of Horticulture
We start from Morelia early in the morning northeast towards Tlalpujahua to Sierra Chincua. The drive is approximately three hours. One of five publicly accessible sanctuaries, Sierra Chincua is the wintering site of millions of Monarch butterflies that fly south to hibernate during the winter months, from November to February.
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