By Julian Boaler ’14
Environmental and Plant Biology Major, Ohio University
Hello everyone!
I have been very fortunate to be able to take part in a 10 week internship at the Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, Florida, for the summer (kudos to Dr. Ballard for setting it up)! I’ve been having a blast learning about tropical plants and the conservation required to protect and ensure the survival of various endangered plants and animals.
I started off my first week at the garden’s nursery located slightly off-site, where I learned to fill in accessions for all the plants that will eventually make their way into the garden, to individuals conducting research, or traded between other botanic gardens worldwide for collection diversity. Among other things, I also learned how to take care and understand the water requirements, sun/shade tolerances, and common pests to numerous tropical plant species. The nursery is staffed full-time by only a few people (although there are volunteers who come in to help from time to time), so there’s always work to be done! Fortunately everyone is amazing at what they do, so they manage to keep the nursery up and running without a hitch.
The link below contains some photos I’ve taken of the nursery and all the shadehouses, greenhouses, and propogation houses within it. I’ll be sure to update the album as I take more pictures. Enjoy!
Julian
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