Missouri Botanical Garden trains seed conservationists to protect plant diversity

ST. LOUIS, Mo. (First Alert 4) - The Missouri Botanical Garden is helping train a new generation of seed conservation specialists — an effort to protect plants at risk of extinction.

Seed bank manager Meg Engelhardt stores seeds by drying and freezing them, slowing the aging process and preserving plant diversity.

“Seeds are a really great way to store a lot of genetic diversity in a really small space,” Engelhardt said.

Engelhardt was among the first group trained by England’s Millennium Seed Bank to teach long-term seed storage. She is the only person in North America certified to provide that training.

This week, she hosted 10 participants from nine states, including Hawaii. They practiced cleaning and testing seeds in the lab before heading into the field at Shaw Nature Reserve.

“There’s no way we could get to England,” said Emily Griffoul of the Betty Ford Alpine Gardens in Vail, Colorado. “So to be able to come here and learn from our fellow conservation practitioners is an incredible opportunity.”

“You can’t learn this from a video or from a paper,” Engelhardt said. “You need to learn from each other and seeing the actual material in the field.”