A NBG Lifelong Learning Talk with Dr. Mike Maunder
- Thursday, January 21, 2016
- 2 – 4 pm, Naples Botanical Garden, Kapnick Hall
- $15 Members / $20 Non-Members
Botanical gardens have played a profound role in human history, and thankfully that relevance to society is increasingly recognized. This talk will be a personal tour of some of the world’s most interesting and odd botanical gardens and will review the personalities and events that are associated with creating them. We will start in Ancient Egypt and meander through the European Renaissance and the colonial period before spending time looking at some of the newest gardens of today. This is the history of the world as interpreted by a gardener and a botanist.
Mike Maunder is Associate Dean for Research Engagement, College of Arts and Sciences, Florida International University. He is currently Interim Director of The Kampong and Co-Director of the Tropical Conservation Institute. Mike is a botanic garden and species conservation professional with over 25 years’ experience in botanic garden management and planning, museum design, species and habitat conservation, conservation strategy and policy, institutional leadership and project management. Mike has worked at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, National Tropical Botanical gardens and Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden. Recently he has worked on botanic garden and museum design in Abu Dhabi and Oman.
Mike has extensive fieldwork and research experience in Europe, Middle East, Central and Eastern Africa, Caribbean and Pacific regions. Recent fieldwork has included Belize, Kenya and South Sudan.
Mike has been working on Red Listing and conservation assessments and is a recognized leader in ex situ strategy and implementation. Recently Mike was part of the team developing the IUCN global ex situ guidelines (2014) and global species translocation guidelines (2012).
Mike is a senior Editor for the international conservation journal Oryx, a scientific advisor to the IUCN/SSC Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, member of the scientific advisory committee of the Sahara Conservation Fund and a founding board member of the Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Species Conservation Fund. (Please see their website for more info.)
