
The Importance of Conserving Plant Diversity in New England
Guest Speaker: Michael Piantedosi
Location: | The Country Club |
Time: | Thursday, November 10 | 10:00 AM Reception | 10:30 AM Lecture | 11:30 AM Lunch |
Cost of Program: | $30 |
Cost of Lunch: | $35 |
Tickets will be sold through EventBrite only.
As Director of Conservation, Michael Piantedosi leads the Native Plant Trust’s internationally recognized Conservation Department, which focuses on saving imperiled plants, restoring habitats, and documenting the state of New England’s flora. Michael oversees a staff that includes a conservation team as well as many of the 1,500 trained volunteers who work throughout New England each year. Their purpose is to monitor and protect rare and endangered plants, to collect and preserve seeds to ensure biological diversity, to detect and control invasive species, and to conduct research.
Michael is active in the Center for Plant Conservation Network where the Native Plant Trust (NPT) acts as a Participating Institution (PI). He is also the point of contact for listing New England rare plants on the IUCN Red List (the International List of Rare and Endangered Species). Prior to joining NPT, Michael was Curatorial Horticulturalist at the Museum of Science, Boston, and held positions at the Woodman Horticultural Research Farm and the Center for Freshwater Biology. He recently co-authored the landmark publication, Conserving Plant Diversity in New England, a collaboration of NPT and the Nature Conservancy.