New York Botanical Garden

The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) will enhance its EcoFlora Project and work with four other botanical gardens to implement the model in their communities. The EcoFlora Project uses digital herbarium and library collections and Geographic Information Systems technology, combined with citizen scientist observations, to build an electronic resource to document and monitor a city's plants while engaging the public in studying biodiversity in their own neighborhoods, and informing land use and conservation decisions. Each partner garden will create its own project platform and recruit citizen scientists. NYBG will expand its EcoFlora in more neighborhoods to maximize the diversity of citizen scientist participants, and create a toolkit for local teachers to use with students. NYGB and the partner gardens will share project experiences at national conferences and create online materials to serve as a guideline for other gardens.