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Monthly Science Webinars

In 2024, the New York Botanical Garden initiated a series of Science Webinars, occurring on the first Wednesday of every month. These webinars showcase the work of our talented team of scientists and the crucial work they do on behalf of the Garden’s mission to study, document, and spotlight the importance of the plants and fungi of the world.

We will continue to post these engaging webinars each month for the benefit of our Garden Patrons and other supporters with a keen interest in the incredible work taking place here at the Garden.

Systematics of Pitcher Plants (Sarraceniaceae): Long-Standing Problems, Outside-the-Box Solutions

April 1, 2026

Despite much prior study using a variety of traditional and modern methods, significant questions remain about the evolutionary relationships and history of the Western Hemisphere Pitcher Plants (Sarraceniaceae). Symbiotic arthropods present one potential means of addressing these long-standing problems, independently from previous methods. This webinar will include examples of arthropods contributing to solve problems in pitcher plant taxonomy, phylogeny, and biogeography.

Robert Naczi is Arthur Cronquist Curator of North American Botany at NYBG. He studies floristics, systematics, and conservation of North American plants, particularly Cyperaceae and Sarraceniaceae.

In Honor of Women's History Month: Measuring the Impact of Female Botanists Through Archival Practices and Historical Research 

March 4, 2026

Over the past year, NYBG archivists have worked to enhance the visibility of women botanists within the Garden’s archives. This talk explores the role of archivists in shaping the historical record, the persistence of archival silences, and how earlier collecting and descriptive practices often obscured women’s scientific contributions, with attention to the Elizabeth Gertrude Knight Britton Records and the Otto and Isa Degener Records. The webinar also centers on the work of Ireland’s first female botanist, Ellen Hutchins, whose internationally circulated collections of algae, lichens, and bryophytes contributed to the description of new species, forming a lasting botanical legacy in institutional collections, including those at NYBG.

Ashley Aberg is the Reference Archivist at the New York Botanical Garden’s LuEsther T. Mertz Library. She earned her MLIS with a focus in Archives Management from Simmons University in 2021 and comes to NYBG from the Greenwich Historical Society. Previously, she spent 10 years as the research director of a small academic project on Plato’s Republic and continues to advise the project.

Laura Briscoe is an Assistant Director of the William & Lynda Steere Herbarium, where she oversees the cryptogamic collections. Her academic training focused on plant taxonomy and systematics, with a specialization in leafy liverworts. Her current research centers on nomenclature and historical research to properly contextualize natural history collections.

Nicole Font is a Shelby White and Leon Levy Processing Archivist at the New York Botanical Garden’s LuEsther T. Mertz Library. She earned her MA in Archives and Public History from New York University in 2022, and has since worked on projects for the Bob Dylan Archive, the New-York Historical Society, and the Center for Brooklyn History.

Global Conservation Consortium for Food Plants (GCCFP)

February 4, 2026

The Global Conservation Consortium for Food Plants (GCCFP) is a collaborative initiative led by NYBG and partners to safeguard the world’s food plant diversity. It coordinates global networks, develops conservation strategies, builds capacity, and ensures equitable data and knowledge sharing to secure crops and their wild relatives for future food security. 

Dr. Mauricio Diazgranados, Chief Science Officer and Dean of Science, leads the strategic positioning and planning for Science at NYBG. His research in plant and fungal diversity supports communities in locations and economies where nutritional, income, and biodiversity issues are of paramount importance. His projects focus on studying utilized, neglected, and under-utilized plants; their main threats and conservation status; and their sustainable use, primarily in the Tropics.

Dr. Alex McAlvay, Kate E. Tode Assistant Curator in the Center for Plants, People, and Culture at NYBG, researches human-plant relationships through genomic, ecological, and ethnobotanical approaches. His current projects span the revitalization of traditional cropping systems in Ethiopia and Georgia; the ecology of Pacific Northwest Forest gardens; Shinnecock Nation traditional prescribed burning practices; connections between endangered languages and ethnobotany in Western Mexico; and the evolutionary history of Brassica crops.

Between Genes and Forms: The Study of Novelties in Seed Plants

December 3, 2025

Seeds evolved around 300 million years ago, and with them came an enormous diversity of plants. In this seminar, Dr. Cecilia Zumajo will present her work at NYBG on evolutionary innovations—seeds and fruits—by taking you on an evolutionary journey. You will see how she uses molecular approaches to uncover the genetics that determine the morphological diversity we see in seed plants today. Botanical gardens are institutions housing diverse living collections of plants, and NYBG, being one of the largest, enables Cecilia’s research to progress smoothly and fosters her curiosity.

Cecilia Zumajo, Ph.D., studies plant evolution and development of reproductive structures of seed plants, which includes the beautiful diversity of flowers and the wide variety of fruits and seeds (including pine cones and their weird relatives!). Dr. Zumajo looks for the outliers, the strangest plants in nature that allow her to determine the genetic changes that have led to the diversity that surrounds us. Her approach uses classical botanical tools such as plant anatomy and morphology, as well as genomics and bioinformatic approaches to uncover the genetic basis of plant morphological diversity.

Light into Life: The Optical Architecture of the Leaf

November 5, 2025

Dive into the microworld of the leaf, where we encounter cells that trap, guide, and scatter light to enhance photosynthesis. In this talk, Dr. Aleca Borsuk will present her work utilizing synchrotron 3D imaging, computer modeling, and laboratory experiments to investigate the optical architecture of the leaf—including what happens when leaf architecture goes awry, and how this research could lead to an early-stage detection system for beech leaf disease, a foliar disease rapidly spreading across the Northeastern US.

Aleca Borsuk, Ph.D., is an Assistant Curator in the Laboratory for Integrative Biodiversity Research at NYBG. Dr. Borsuk studies plant form and function across Earth’s diverse environments to understand how plant anatomy promotes light absorption and carbon assimilation, provides resilience to abiotic stress, and informs sustainable technologies that derive function from structure.

Evolution and Development of Land Plants: A Focus on Ferns

October 1, 2025

Land plants evolved over 450 million years ago from freshwater green algae and have come to dominate Earth’s surface, fundamentally changing our planet. Concomitant with a transition to land, plants evolved a complex multicellular diploid body composed of novel cells and organs that allowed plants to grow larger, persist in varied climates, and occupy diverse ecological niches. Our research focuses on lycophytes and ferns to investigate the origin and diversity of complex multicellularity. This presentation will provide a broad overview of the cellular, genetic, and genomic approaches we use to address fundamental questions in plant evolution and development.

Barbara Ambrose is Director of the Laboratory for Integrative Biodiversity Research and Curator in Plant Genomics. Her research explores the evolution of land plants and the molecular genetics of plant form.

Graduate Studies at NYBG: Past, Present, and Future

September 3, 2025

The study of plants and fungi is more vital than ever, as botanical scientists tackle urgent issues like biodiversity loss, food security, new medicines, and climate adaptation. Yet, there is a critical shortage of trained experts, worsened by the downsizing of botany programs nationwide. NYBG is uniquely equipped to address this gap through its graduate training in plant sciences. With world-class collections, advanced research facilities, expert staff, and immersive educational programs, NYBG offers students hands-on experience across field, lab, and collections work. This presentation outlines the program’s goals and spotlights student research.

Lawrence Kelly is the Director of Graduate Studies and Vice President for Science Administration at NYBG. He is a botanist and plant systematist with interest in Aristolochiaceae, Symplocaceae, and Actinidiaceae.

Seeding Ecosystems of the Future

August 6, 2025

Climate change is impacting the distribution of biodiversity across time and space. Our gardens can be incredibly useful tools to support biodiversity conservation, such as by supporting native plant and wildlife populations and by reducing the spread of invasive species. In this talk, Eve Beaury, Ph.D., discusses how climate change is affecting species distributions, and what types of organisms might be most likely to track their preferred temperature ranges. Eve then discusses how gardens can help seed ecosystems of the future, including the research and resources she and her colleagues have developed in order to support biodiversity-positive decisions in our green spaces.

The Root of the Problem: How a Resilient Old-Growth Forest Resists Urban Soil Impairment

July 2, 2025

Described as “primeval” by NYBG’s founder, the Thain Family Forest dodged saws and plows to remain flourishing for millennia. Yet, the forest has coexisted for centuries within the country’s most populous city. What can such a unique history of land-use teach us about forest ecology in, of, and for cities? For that, we look to the soil for answers. In this webinar, Brad Oberle, Associate Curator at the Garden’s Center for Conservation and Restoration Ecology, will take us through his research into forest soil health and explore how new tree planting techniques could help manage legacy pollution at the Garden and beyond.

Insights on Neotropical Plant Diversity from Collaborative Floristic and Systematic Studies

June 4, 2025

Lowland Neotropical rain forests harbor more species of tropical trees in inventory plots than any other biome, but the underlying drivers of this diversity, as well as the historical assembly of the neotropical flora, are poorly understood. In this month’s webinar, Benjamin Torke, Ph.D., Curator for NYBG’s Center for Biodiversity and Evolution, summarizes his systematic and evolutionary studies of Neotropical legumes, as well as floristic research in Amazonia and beyond, revealing insights about spatial patterns of diversity and how they came to be.

Advancing Floristic Knowledge and Conservation for Northeastern North America: The New Manual Project

May 7, 2025

More than 30 years ago, former New York Botanical Garden scientist Arthur Cronquist updated The Manual of Vascular Plants of Northeastern United States and Adjacent Canada, originally authored by Cronquist and his Garden colleague Henry Gleason. This masterful update of their original 1963 publication served as a continuation to the long lineage of manuals by NYBG authors, including Founding Director Nathaniel Lord Britton. Staying true to this long-standing tradition, Robert Naczi, Ph.D., Arthur Cronquist Curator of North American Botany, is spearheading the revision and expansion of Gleason and Cronquist’s Manual. In this webinar, Rob provides an overview of the New Manual project, a progress report, and a review of how the project is advancing plant systematics and conservation.

Extreme Botany and the Study of Botanical Oddities: An Insight into our Planet's Past

April 2, 2025

Despite their fascinating morphologies, anatomy, and evolutionary history, aquatic plants remain understudied and underrepresented in herbaria. This pattern, some say, is a consequence of botanists preferring not to get their feet wet. In this webinar, Ana Bedoya, Assistant Curator in the Center for Biodiversity & Evolution, shows that practicing “Extreme Aquatic Botany” not only surpasses collection bias of botanical oddities, but also unveils the history of landscape evolution across time and space. Ana specifically refers to ongoing projects at NYBG using collections in new ways to explore the fossil record, extract large-scale genetic data, and investigate how plants and rivers have evolved through time.

From the Herbarium to the Field, and Back to the Lab and the Herbarium: Filling Gaps in Our Biodiversity Knowledge

March 5, 2025

Herbaria harbor a permanent record of plant and fungal diversity in place and time. While millions of specimens have been collected, digitized, and made available, we continue to describe new species and find new patterns; a clear indication that more collections are still needed. Interestingly, herbaria can also be used to identify important knowledge gaps, and to prioritize areas, taxa, and seasons to target for new collections. In this webinar, Dr. Fabián Michelangeli presents a few examples of how identifying these needs works in practice, focusing on the distribution and evolution of the plant family Melastomataceae in tropical America.

Asia-Pacific Research & Collections: New York's Other Great Strength

February 5, 2025

Did you know that The William & Lynda Steere Herbarium houses one of the largest collections of plants, fungi, and algae from Asia and the Pacific? In this seminar, Matthew Pace, Associate Curator of the Herbarium, provides an overview of the many NYBG field programs and collections from across Asia and the Pacific, and discusses the foundational role NYBG played in studying the floras of this region and the many important herbarium specimens we steward. He also discusses some of the challenges that come with digitization specific to this region and the steps taken to overcome them.

Kastom Forest Konsevasen: An Indigenous Approach to Conserving Forests

January 8, 2025

Listen with us as Drs. Greg Plunkett and Mike Balick discuss their ongoing plant conservation efforts in Vanuatu, where a long-term research program is addressing both local needs and global conservation goals. This project, deeply rooted in Melanesian customary practices, aims to protect Vanuatu’s unique biodiversity through the integration of traditional knowledge with modern conservation science.

Herbals: The Roots of Botanical Science

December 4, 2024

The LuEsther T. Mertz Library is home to an extensive collection of books from throughout the past millennium, including one of the oldest known copies of the 12th-century herbal manuscript Circa Instans. Join Stephen Sinon as he gives us a rare glimpse of some of the Mertz Library’s oldest and most prized books in its collection.

Before New York: An Atlas and Gazetteer

November 6, 2024

Dr. Eric Sanderson has a keen understanding of the historical ecology of New York City. In this webinar, he gives us a sneak peek of his upcoming book, talks about its relevance to the contemporary ecology of the city, and describes how the Garden is leveraging this information for a program in urban conservation, ecosystem restoration, and climate resilience.

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