News Published: 02 February 2024

The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History Department of Botany, the United States Botanic Garden, and Smithsonian Gardens will host the 21st Smithsonian Botanical Symposium, “Advancing Plant Conservation Through Horticulture,” on May 17, 2024.

The focus of the Symposium will be on conservation horticulture, the application of the technical knowledge and practical expertise of growing plants for the advancement of plant conservation, which is critical in our time of rapid global change if we are to ensure the survival of imperilled plant species. Botanic gardens and conservation organizations around the world maintain diverse and wild-collected ex situ plant collections, care for plants of concern in situ, provide plants for population augmentation and repopulation, and support conservation education and advocacy. Many plants that are extinct or facing extinction in the wild persist in cultivation through such efforts. The 21st Smithsonian Botanical Symposium will explore these topics and current research at the nexus of plant conservation and horticulture.

In addition, the 21st José Cuatrecasas Medal for Excellence in Tropical Botany will be awarded at the Symposium to an international scholar who has contributed significantly to advancing the field of tropical botany. The award is named in honor of Dr. José Cuatrecasas, a pioneering botanist who spent many years working in the Department of Botany at the Smithsonian and devoted his career to plant exploration and taxonomy in tropical South America.

The Symposium will be a hybrid event, with invited speakers giving afternoon presentations in Baird Auditorium of the National Museum of Natural History (NMNH) for both in-person and virtual guests. This will be followed by a poster session and evening reception for in-person guests at the Conservatory of the U.S. Botanic Garden.

The event is free, but all attendees, both in-person and virtual, must register in advance.