150 Years of Plants and People

How would you characterize your role at the Arboretum?
"I'm an evolutionary biologist who is interested in identifying the genetic mechanisms that the wildflower genus Phlox evolved to discriminate between same species and different species fertilization attempts. As a researcher I view myself as an explorer of questions that remain unanswered or poorly understood, striving to help understand the natural world around us all."

What inspires you about the Arboretum?
"The Arboretum is a hub that showcases the beauty of nature while simultaneously containing world-class research facilities that explores the source of the biodiversity on display."

What would you want others to know about the Arboretum?
"The Arboretum provides more than a beautiful place to walk, there are regularly educational services and community engagement opportunities that are meant to enrich the community that surrounds us. The Arnold Arboretum is a place for everyone and a valuable natural resource within city limits."

How would you characterize your role at the Arboretum?
"I have the honor to work alongside a talented greenhouse and nursery team to cultivate the next generation of plants that are ultimately destined for the permanent landscape. We grow trees and shrubs from seeds collected on Arboretum expeditions and clonally propagate existing plants in the Arboretum’s collection."

What inspires you about the Arboretum?
"Each plant in the landscape has a story to tell: where it came from or where the species is native, the individual who harvested the seed in the field to grow it, how it was propagated—information that makes the plant unique. All of these narratives weave together to tell the 150-year account of the Arboretum."

What would you want others to know about the Arboretum?
"The Arboretum has 281 vibrant acres that contain the beauty and science of the natural world. It is an inviting green space in the heart of a city where one can learn, relax, or simply appreciate nature."

How would you characterize your role at the Arboretum?
"As a gardener on the horticulture crew, my role is to support the work of our horticulturists who are assigned specific zones of the Arboretum landscape. I spend most of my time working in the Leventritt Shrub & Vine Garden, as well as the Hunnewell Visitor Center landscape. My daily tasks include weed management, mulching, pruning of shrubs and vines, planting, plant health checks, path maintenance, and watering, as well as leaf and snow clean-ups seasonally."

What inspires you about the Arboretum?
"The Arboretum has inspired me to pursue horticulture as a career from the first times I visited as a teenager. The vast landscape, mature trees, and unique and rare plant material here always mesmerized me. These feelings are renewed every time I hear interesting history of a certain plant, see wildlife or an insect I have not noticed at the Arboretum before, or by simply admiring the landscape as I head back to our garage at the end of the day."

What would you want others to know about the Arboretum?
"There is always something new to learn or discover at the Arboretum. The size of our landscape, the efforts of our staff, and the different features of each season make the Arboretum an ever-changing and evolving green space in Boston. I encourage visitors to read a tag from a different plant each time they visit, or check out an area off their normal route. You never know what you will stumble across!"

What is your role at the Arboretum?
“I see myself as the chief advocate on behalf of the Arboretum within the complex “ecosystems” of Harvard University and the City of Boston. It is my job to open the institution up to anyone and everyone so that this magnificent museum collection of woody temperate plants that sits on an Olmsted-designed landscape can be interpreted and interrogated by the scientists, artists, humanists, educators, and of course the millions of members of the general public who visit each year. It is also incumbent upon me to ensure that he institution is constantly evolving while remaining true to is foundational ideals as a scientific institution and a public park.”

What inspires you about the Arboretum?
“The unending beauty of each and every one of the roughly 16,000 accessioned woody plants at the Arboretum inspire me every moment that I am on the grounds. As a plant morphologist (the study of plant form), I am constantly imagining the millions of years of evolutionary history as well as the decades or centuries that brought a seed to the plant in front of me. As Goethe once wrote about nature: “Everlasting, evanescent, inaccessible, yet near. Formed, transformed, through change incessant, clothed in wonder, I am here.” That sums it up perfectly for me.”

What would you want others to know about the Arboretum?
“Going back to our very founding, the Arnold Arboretum was designed to contribute meaningfully to the fabric of our democracy, supporting public health, well-being, and the essential need for humans to connect to nature and to one another. The past two years have proven how incredibly important institutions like the Arnold Arboretum are to the basic human condition. As such, I think of the Arnold as sitting at the crossroads of biodiversity and human diversity.”