Inside The New York Botanical Garden

Certificate Programs

Q&A with Mike Feller about NYBG’s new Urban Naturalist Program

Posted in Adult Education on March 31 2017, by Samantha Fletcher

Figure 1: Mike Feller holding a peregrine falcon chick.
Mike Feller holding a peregrine falcon chick.

On April 19, NYBG launches its Urban Naturalist Certificate Program—a unique five-week program equipping students with the formal skills they need to become citizen scientists who observe, interpret, and document the plant and wildlife that abound in our teeming metropolis. Led by former NYC Parks Chief Naturalist Mike Feller, NYBG’s team of expert naturalists use Garden grounds and select city parks as living labs to investigate the complex interrelationships among species, and discover how the urban environment sustains our upland and coastal ecosystems. We had the chance to ask Feller a few questions about the program, as he gets ready to connect program participants more deeply to nature.

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Landscape Design Students Get to Work

Posted in Adult Education on June 29 2016, by Elizabeth Fisher

Landscape Design Certificate recipient Liz Poccia addresses her fellow graduates at the June 5 ceremony.
Landscape Design Certificate recipient Liz Poccia addresses her fellow graduates at the June 5 ceremony.

Landscape designers play a pivotal role as society deals with the fundamental question of how our public and private land is used. Their designs improve the outdoor environments surrounding us in rural areas, urban settings, and suburban yards. At the Garden, aspiring landscape designers receive the instruction—and inspiration—they need to create those gorgeous and sustainable green spaces.

This past month, in a Garden ceremony, 14 graduates received their Landscape Design Certificates. Elizabeth Poccia, the featured student speaker at the ceremony, credits NYBG with helping her find her passion.

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Recognizing Excellence in Horticultural Therapy

Posted in Adult Education on March 26 2013, by Ann Rafalko

MWTherapyThe New York Botanical Garden would like to congratulate one of our very own Horticultural Therapy instructors, Matthew J. Wichrowski, M.S.W., H.T.R., for being the recipient of the prestigious 2013 American Horticultural Society (AHS) distinguished Great American Gardeners Award for Horticultural Therapy.

In addition to serving as Senior Horticultural Therapist at the Enid A. Haupt Glass Garden at the Rusk Institute, part of NYU Langone Medical Center, Mr. Wichrowski has brought his expertise to our Horticultural Therapy Certificate students since 1996 as one of our valued instructors.

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