150 Years of Connecting People, Plants, and Place

<p>Michigan State University’s renowned <a href="https://bealbotanicalgarden.msu.edu/about">W. J. Beal Botanical Garden and Campus Arboretum</a> is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2023. </p><p> </p><p>Established in 1873, the W. J. Beal Botanical Garden is the oldest, continuously operated university botanical garden in the United States and illuminates the interconnectedness between people, plants, and place. This living laboratory encourages learning and exploration of the natural world. With a collection of over 2,000 plants from around the globe situated in the heart of MSU's campus along the Red Cedar River, this lovely natural landscape is perfect for collaborative programming to advance research, teaching, wellbeing, and public engagement.</p><p> </p><p>Alan Prather is the garden’s interim director. Maeve Bassett is education director. And Loren Campbell is a student and Beal Scholar. They join me to talk about the garden’s history, present, and sustainable future.</p><p> </p><p><strong><em>Conversation Highlights</em></strong>:</p><p> </p><p>(1:43) – “My goal is that anyone who walks into the garden, whether they’re a math major or a cold war assassination specialist, I can find some way to get them interested in plants.”</p><p> </p><p>(3:01) – “Being in the Provost’s office, and in <a href="https://provost.msu.edu/about-the-office/academic-and-administrative-units/university-arts-and-collections">University Arts and Collections</a> specifically, has given us a stronger focus on academics. Now we have a tighter, richer role with scholarship and learning on campus.”</p><p> </p><p>(3:29) – “One of my goals has been to broaden the scope of who feels welcome and who wants to come to programming at the garden.”</p><p> </p><p>(4:30) – “What I’m doing is looking at the plants that are in the garden already and in the pollinator garden and seeing how much they’re visited by native pollinators.”</p><p> </p><p>(5:27) – “One of the fantastic things about the history of the garden is the fact that it’s