Thursday, January 27, 7:00 pm – Conversations with Great American Gardeners: Michael Balick, Online
The American Horticultural Society is excited to launch a new virtual speaker series featuring current and past Great American Gardeners Award Winners and Book Award Winners. Since 1953, the AHS has been recognizing and celebrating horticultural champions that represent the best in American gardening. In a lively and engaging conversational format, speakers will share their knowledge and experience with our event host, Holly Shimizu, gardener to gardener. Holly Shimizu is a nationally recognized horticulturist with a rich background in public gardens and garden communication.
On January 27 at 7 pm, Holly will speak with Michael Balick. A world renowned ethnobotanist at the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG), Michael J. Balick, Ph.D., works with indigenous cultures to document plant diversity, preserve knowledge about traditional uses for plants, and help these communities sustainably manage their resources. In the course of this work, he evaluates the potential of these botanical resources for broader medical or pharmaceutical applications. His most recent project focuses on the tropical Pacific Islands in Micronesia and Melanesia, where he is documenting the diversity, local use, and management of plant resources in support of a region-wide conservation plan. Balick is currently vice president for botanical science at NYBG, where he has worked since 1980. He is also director and senior philecology curator of the NYBG Institute of Economic Botany, which he cofounded in 1981. $10 for AHS members, $20 for nonmembers. Register at www.ahsgardening.org.
