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Harvard Professor Peter Del Tredici
Event Description:
Urban ecosystems are the ultimate manifestation of the dynamic conflict between humans and nature—between our desire for neat, orderly landscapes on the one hand and our fear of messy ecological chaos on the other. This presentation will focus on the plants that grow without cultivation in cities and their remarkable ability to flourish in spite of stressful environmental conditions. Cities—along with the plants and animals they support—can be considered "novel" ecosystems that not only reflect a tumultuous past but also preview our unpredictable future. The spontaneous vegetation that inhabits our cities is as cosmopolitan as its people and, quite frankly, better adapted to their changing environmental conditions than the native species that once grew there. Like it or not, these novel ecosystems have become the new normal in urban areas and people need to recognize that they not only help make our cities more livable but also help clean up the mess we have made of the planet.
This webinar will be led by Peter Del Tredici, a botanist specializing in the growth and development of trees. He retired from the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University in 2014 after 35 years as Plant Propagator, Curator of the Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection, Editor of Arnoldia, Director of Living Collections and Senior Research Scientist. He was an Associate Professor in Practice in the Landscape Architecture Department at the Harvard Graduate School of Design from 1992 through 2016 and taught in the Urban Planning Department at MIT from 2016 through 2019. In 2013, he was awarded the Veitch Gold Medal by The Royal Horticultural Society (England) “in recognition of services given in the advancement of the science and practice of horticulture.”
Dr. Del Tredici's interests are wide ranging and include such subjects as vegetative regeneration (sprouting) in trees, the botany and horticulture of magnolias, stewartias and hemlocks, and the natural and cultural history of the Ginkgo tree which he has been studying intensively since 1989. His recent work is focused on urban ecology and climate change and resulted in the publication of the widely acclaimed “Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast: A Field Guide” (2nd edition 2020, Cornell University Press).
Registration for this webinar is just $30. Bartlett members receive a $10 discount at checkout. Interested in becoming a member? Learn more here.