Espeletia or frailejones the subject Diazgrandos’ research, image Rinaldo Wurglitsch, Flickr, CC-BY-2.0
The appointment of a new chief scientist at the New York Botanical Garden has focussed attention on the fact that since its inception in 1891, NYBG has been home to a research program focused heavily on the American tropics. Dr Mauricio Diazgranados is the first chief scientist to hail from the same region as so much of the garden’s collections.
Diazgranados says “Science is there, of course, to investigate, to understand nature, but also to help us protect the planet and improve our quality of life…This is the time for institutions like NYBG to start providing solutions to the world…We just cannot keep doing the science as we are used to doing. Can we keep going into the field, bringing in and describing new species while the whole world is tearing apart and burning?”
You can read more about his research and plans below. (The post Mauricio Diazgranados Is a Botanist in a Hurry appeared first on New York Times. Thanks to Max Bourke for the tip.)