EcoFlora for Everyone: Engaging your community in observing nature
September 15, 2022
7:00 – 8:00 PM (Via Zoom)
Jennifer Neale, Ph.D.
Director of Research & Conservation
Denver Botanic Gardens
View the presentation here.
EcoFlora is an innovative program model for connecting people to plant life and plant science through public gardens in urban areas. EcoFlora is based on the traditional flora concept, a list or inventory of plants in a given area or period of time. The “eco” in EcoFlora represents going beyond a list of plants and encompassing the study of urban ecosystems. EcoFloras can help address the disconnect between people and plant life by recruiting and supporting the public to participate in the digital collection of plant life and urban biodiversity data. The digital observations made by community scientists can be used to bolster herbarium collections, and support research and conservation efforts.
This presentation will discuss how any botanic garden or other institution can start and implement their own EcoFlora program to better engage with community scientists. Examples of how your public garden can engage the community in plant science and the study of the surrounding urban environment through an EcoFlora program will be discussed. Lessons learned from our own EcoFlora project will aid in creating an EcoFlora program for your own garden or institution.
Jenny serves as the Director of the Research & Conservation at Denver Botanic Gardens where she leads the team of scientists working to investigate and explain biodiversity patterns and processes. Working collaboratively, the team documents and conserves our natural heritage working towards a vision of a biodiverse world. Serving as the public face of the department, she participates in regional, national and international collaborative projects focused on biodiversity conservation. Her research is focused on using molecular methods to address questions of conservation concern related to rare plants in Colorado.