text: Plant People explores the ways our relationships with plants are tied to current environmental issues, and how art and culture reflect our connection to the ecosystems we rely on to thrive. Through lively stories and conversations with scientists, gardeners, artists, and experts, join the New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) for deep dives into everything from food systems and horticulture to botanical breakthroughs in the lab and the field, and the many ways our daily lives are sustained by plants. Then stay for discussions on how we can return the favor, protecting what we have—and cultivating what we need—to ensure plants and people continue to support each other for future generations. Host Jennifer Bernstein, NYBG’s President & CEO, guides you through the role of humans in caring for our shared planet, whether you’re in your backyard garden, tending a window sill full of houseplants, or finding your love of nature in a concrete jungle. Let NYBG—rooted in NYC’s cultural fabric for over 130 years and a beloved respite in the heart of the Bronx, the city’s greenest borough—be your anchor for understanding how plants make a difference in your life, and our world, every single day—in ways both big and small. Listen and subscribe to Plant People every two weeks starting May 20, 2024.
  Take an in-depth look at how NYBG has championed the natural world for over 130 years by caring for its unique and historic collections — together with Dr. Emily Sessa, Director of the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, and Rhonda Evans, Director of the LuEsther T. Mertz Library.
  We’re first joined by Library Director Rhonda Evans for an exploration of the world-renowned Mertz Library, where she digs into the ways that a botanical literature archive like this is incredibly important for our understanding of plants and environmental health, past, present, and future. She goes into the highlights of our collection, how we’re growing it, and takes a peek into our book restoration and conservation lab.
  Next, Emily Sessa takes us inside NYBG’s Steere Herbarium and its miraculous collections to share what our herbarium specialists do, and why studying the past through collections like these is key to protecting the future of biodiversity on Earth. The hidden stories of various herbarium specimens will come to life, to help listeners orient themselves amidst the centuries-old act of collecting, documenting and studying plant specimens.