Science
- Evolutionary ecology research
- Horticultural research
- Plant diversity research
- Plant pathology research
- Herbarium & resources
- Scientific publications
Students and TeachingDr Karen Sommerville - Technical Officer, Teaching plant conservation to the next generationFor the past four years Horticultural Research staff have taught plant conservation concepts and techniques to final year students of the Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Natural Resources at the University of Sydney. This year the teaching block was conducted on site for one day per week over three consecutive weeks. As in previous years, the students were first taught basic concepts in conservation, such as the importance of biodiversity, actions reducing biodiversity around the world, and instruments for conserving biodiversity such as the Global Strategy for Plant Conservation. Students were then given an overview of the various methods of plant conservation available, followed by in-depth lectures on ex situ conservation techniques with a focus on seedbanking. Lectures were supplemented with practical exercises so that the students gained experience in collecting, cleaning and drying seed, testing seed for viability, and testing for physical and morphological dormancy. Each year, the students are also required to conduct and report on a conservation-related experiment. This year the focus was on re-testing the viability of seed from three Cumberland Plain grass species stored in the NSW Seedbank for 5-8 years to determine whether storage had led to any loss of viability. The program was well-received and the students gained knowledge that will be useful to them in future studies or careers in the plant sciences. Student projectsPhD students based at the Australian Botanic Garden contribute to the scientific programs of the Royal Botanic Garden and Domain Trust. Allison Frith is in the second year of her project ‘Restoration of endangered grassland: the role of seed production areas’ and Nathan Emery in the first year of his study ‘Understanding how population differences contribute to changed distributions using Actinotus as a model system’. Both students are enrolled at the University of Sydney. |
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