Guest Essay: The ultra-urban botanic garden

Abstract

Scot Medbury is president of Brooklyn Botanic Garden. He has been involved in the curation, cultivation and interpretation of public gardens for 35 years, having held appointments at prominent institutions in California, Washington State, Hawaii, the UK and New Zealand. Scot currently serves as a member of the governing councils of Botanic Gardens Conservation International, the Center for Plant Conservation and the International Dendrology Society. He is a trustee of and chairs the Historic Landscape Committee of Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, and serves as an advisor to four American public gardens. He holds an MSc from the University of Washington’s Center for Urban Horticulture and a BA from the University of Washington Jackson School of International Studies.