| Description |
Botanical gardens have certain features that distinguish them from pleasure gardens and public parks. In the latter part of the 20th century, the environmental and sustainability movement changed botanic garden missions to increase the serious tones of research, education, and conservation (p. 185-211, Hill, 1915). These include a scientific basis for collections, an emphasis on recording data on the plants in the collection, exchanging plant materials and data with other botanical gardens, and providing educational information to visitors. Gardens often have several missions, including conservation of rare and endangered species, botanical and ecological research, and involving the public through citizen science. The mission of my Community Partner, Red Butte Garden (RBG), is "to cultivate the human connection with the beauty of living landscapes" by developing "a community that understands, values, protects and is enriched by the world of plants through plant displays and collections, education, conservation, and as a setting for cultural enrichment and events." I consider my project setting up a database and collecting the first year's data from plant species in all 14 acres of the garden as highlighting and increasing the depth of that mission. The quantitative impacts include-1) a lasting system with which to collect the data; 2) a template for that data collection utilized in successive years; and 3) a sustainable source of data collectors in the form of Environmental Studies undergraduate students conducting their major's capstone practicum. The qualitative impacts include -1) integrating the garden into the worldwide network of botanical gardens and arboreta; 2) increasing RBG's interaction with the local community and its ability to increase urban plant diversity; 3) involving students from the University of Utah in scientific data collection building and gathering; 4) promoting RBG's visibility and scholarly presence through a project that digitizes and allows analysis of a historic plant collection. |
