Building Collaborations for Biocultural Collections | April Coffee Chat 2025

Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó:nǫɁ (the Cayuga Nation). 

In April, Kerry Dillon, Plant Record Specialist at Cornell Botanic Gardens in Ithaca, NY,  joined us as our guest presenter. During this session, learned about the range of engagements Cornell Botanic Gardens has collaborated on with its local Indigenous community, the Haudenosaunee. Kerry shared how these partnerships have shaped the plant collections policy, garden programming, and interpretation. She demonstrated how Indigenous plant knowledge is being shared via IrisBG's Garden Explorer, resulting in mutually relevant and meaningful living collections.

Thanks to all of you who joined us! The Coffee Chat attendees were a were more experienced users with 71% intermediate users, 29% advanced users.

The map below shows the gardens and arboreta represented by those who registered for the Coffee Chat - home offices not taken into consideration.   

 A few slides from Kerry's Presentation:

Link to Cornell Botanic Gardens' Garden Explorer with this example.

Resources mentioned in the presentation:

• The Gayogo̱hó:nǫˀ Learning Project
• Biocultural Conservation at Cornel Botanic Gardens
• Verdant Views: Growing Vegetables and Connections

Q&A

Q: Where do you save the audio file for the Garden Explorer? 

A: Here is an article with that information in the Knowledge Library: More on Tours

Q: Is there a resource available for the Potentially Problematic Plant Names?

A: Potentially Problematic Common Names in North American Public Gardens document is available.

Q: Have you heard about Drexel University's Academy of Natural Sciences exhibit "Botany of Nations"?

It will open in 2026. Learn more about it at this website.

"Reshaping the historic tale of Lewis & Clark through Indigenous perspectives, collaborative exhibition to inspire civic dialogue and elevate Indigenous scientific practices through plant specimens hand-collected on the renowned journey"

Q: Where can gardens continue this discussion?

A: The Forum post on Biocultural Collections is a place to continue this discussion with other gardens. You don't have to be an IrisBG user to create a Knowledge Library account. Feel free to invite other gardens to the discussion!