Education is the keystone to all our achievements in life and the solid foundation on which we can hope to build our dreams. Specific studies give us an enhanced ability to look at, analyse, compare evaluate, understand, value and appreciate any arena of life and our journey through it.
Within the creative world the evolution of western art, design, music and style as an important and powerful expression of culture gains meaning, when we demonstrate a commitment to scholarship, enquiry, education and conservation of our heritage.
Arial view of the Edith A Haupt Conservatory in the NYBG at dusk
Exploring the increasingly diverse force of citizen scientists locally and globally, by advancing knowledge of nature and environmental stewardship, the New York Botanical Garden through its Humanities Institute, has received a one-million-dollar grant to expand its fellowship and public program offerings over the next three years.
They are seeking new ways to encourage research that will bring a humanities dimension to scientific practice.
Magnificent Trees in the New York Botanical Garden, The Bronx, New York
“We are extremely grateful to The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for its generous support of the Humanities Institute,” said Carrie Rebora Barratt, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer and William C. Steere Sr. President of the New York Botanical Garden.
“The Institute brings a cultural-historical and social-economic dimension to NYBG’s cultivation and conservation of the plant kingdom. It serves as the connective tissue among the Garden’s Horticulture, Education, and Science divisions. Instructive programs strengthen and advance our role as an advocate for plants and the vital role they play in human life” Carrie Barratt said.
Grass and foliage in the fall at Yosemite National Park
In cultivating a love and greater understanding of the natural world, the NYBG connects many people to plants through public participation, by locally and internationally fostering enthusiasm, and by developing research methods for today’s multidisciplinary audiences. It is all about encouraging us to think critically about global biodiversity. The broader our education is, the more options we have as the human race continues to surmount continuing changes taking place world-wide on a daily basis, due to new exciting fields opening up in the disciplines of science and technology, presenting findings, which constantly inform our world view.
Walking through the Thain Family Forest, New York Botanical Garden, New York
Presented on Friday, April 12, 2019, at 10 a.m., in Ross Hall at the New York Botanical Garden, a public symposium, moderated by Dr. Brian M. Boom, Vice President for Conservation Strategy at NYBG, Nature at Your Doorstep: Celebrating the Public Participant in Research, will bring together five speakers to discuss various approaches to environmental scholarship. Those presenting include: Kerissa Battle, Community Greenways Collaborative; Majora Carter, Director of Sustainable South Bronx and President of Majora Carter Group LLC; Carrie Seltzer, Stakeholder Engagement Strategist, iNaturalist; Sara Tjossem, Senior Lecturer, Center for Science and Society, Columbia University; and Jessica A. Schuler, Director of the Thain Family Forest, The New York Botanical Garden.
Outside Edith A Haupt Conservatory, New York Botanical Garden
Exploring the democratization of science, using technology as the equalizer, to engage an increasingly diverse force of citizen scientists in the Bronx, New York, and globally in advancing knowledge of nature and environmental stewardship, is the symposium’s aim.
Nature at Your Doorstep is free and open to the public. Reservations are required.
This event will kick off National Citizen Science Day Activities at NYBG on Saturday, April 13, 2019 ‘a nationally organized event to increase awareness of citizen science and help volunteers discover projects that contribute to the documentation of Earth’s biodiversity’
Healing Plants in New York Botanical Garden
“By initiating conversations and supporting research on today’s complex environmental issues of climate change, air pollution, species extinction, urban planning, environmental justice, urban agriculture, and city greening, within a historical and cultural context, the Humanities Institute increases public understanding of these issues and improves decision-making in policy and practice,” said Susan Fraser, Thomas J. Hubbard Vice President and Director of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
By making continuing education both relevant and accessible, we can all have the choice of aiming for Academic excellence, regard our studies as an enriching pastime or, use them to more serious ends.
To achieve success, we must keep an open mind while learning to consider how and why our evolution as human beings takes place in the context of global and local historical events, the contribution of intellectual and spiritual ideas, as well as a desire for social change.
We can also only measure our success along the way by the contribution we make to the success of those who study with us.
Flowering Cherry Tree, Spring in the New York Botanical Garden
A museum of plants, the New York Botanical Garden is an advocate for the plant kingdom as it pursues its mission through its role as a museum of living plant collections arranged in gardens and landscapes across its National Historic Landmark site; through its comprehensive education programs in horticulture and plant science; and through the wide-ranging research programs of the International Plant Science Center
Carolyn McDowall, The Culture Concept Circle, 2019
The Mertz Library, New York Botanical Garden
The New York Botanical Garden is located on property owned in full by the City of New York, and its operation is made possible in part by public funds provided through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs.
A portion of the Garden’s general operating funds is provided by The New York City Council and The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. The Bronx Borough President and Bronx elected representatives in the City Council and State Legislature provide leadership funding.
