Higher Education and Training

Undergraduate Seminar -
Plant Conservation

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is organising a seminar showcasing some of our plant conservation activities on 6 March 2009.

The sessions will be targeted at undergraduates, but should also prove of interest to graduates students and other specialists. It is open to any University or College group who would be interested in seeing this ‘not so public’ aspect of an international botanic garden. Course tutors interested in bringing students to the seminar should complete the application form and return it to:

J B J Blewett
Museum No 1
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Richmnond, Surrey TW9 3AB

The day will be structured as follows:

Morning
Presentations by members of Kew staff.
A range of formal talks taken from such topics as:

An overview of Kew’s commitment to conservation
Conservation in the field
Role of horticulture in conservation
Role of herbaria in conservation
Molecular tools for conservation

Afternoon
To round off the day, students can join a selection of ‘invitation to see’ tours (each lasting  approximately 1 hour) ,offered from the following list:

The Gardens Explained – Kew’s Living Collections, a guided tour of the Gardens
Behind the Scenes – Herbarium
Behind the Scenes – Jodrell Laboratory
Behind the Scenes – Endangered plants in the Nursery

Students should sign up for these tours on arrival; some may have limited spaces available. There will be two time-slots for tours, and each student can take a maximum of 2 tours.
There will also be time to investigate the public areas of the gardens including the Plants and People Exhibition, individually or as a group, before the gardens close.

To get some background knowledge of our collections and facilities before the day, participants are encouraged to browse our website in advance of their visit.

Lunch is not included, but tea and coffee will be provided during the morning session.

More information contact Barrie Blewett, b.blewett@kew.org or 020 8332 5623