This event is being hosted by the class of 1970. 

Botanic gardens worldwide are vital resources for connecting people with plants. More than just pretty places, these institutions are addressing a host of environmental challenges, elevating their importance globally and within their communities. 

The Mount Holyoke College Botanic Garden is part of this network and offers relevance to both the global community and the Mount Holyoke College communities. This presentation will highlight the diverse ways in which the Mount Holyoke College Botanic Garden serves as a vibrant and valuable resource for supporting academic classes and programs, student and faculty research, conservation, beloved traditions and its role in engaging people with the fascinating world of plants.

This event will be recorded and made available following the event. 

About the presenter

Tom Clark has dedicated his life to public horticulture and much of it at Mount Holyoke College. He began his career at the college in 1994, serving as the gardens supervisor until 2006. Subsequently, he served as the curator at the Polly Hill Arboretum for 10 years. In 2016 Clark returned to Mount Holyoke College to serve as the Botanic Garden’s director and curator, a position he continues to serve in today. A native of Hadley, Massachusetts, Clark holds degrees in botany and plant science from UMass Amherst and spent a year studying in Scotland at Threave School of Horticulture and the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh. He has traveled widely to see plants in both cultivated landscapes and in their native habitats, having participated in plant exploration expeditions to China, Japan and throughout North America. He is a passionate plantsman and equally passionate about engaging audiences with the fascinating world of plants.

Accessibility information

This event will include an oral and visual presentation about botanic gardens, including Mount Holyoke College’s own. For inquiries about the accessibility of this event or to request any accommodations, please email programs_team-g@mtholyoke.edu or call Kate Sawicki at 413-538-2734. Please make accommodation requests 10 business days before the event or sooner to allow for implementation time; however, in all situations, we will make a good faith effort to provide accommodations up until the time of the event.

As the host, Mount Holyoke College reserves the right to record this session, and the event sponsors will give prior notification to event participants of any intention to do so. The recording feature for others is disabled so that no one else will be able to record this session through Zoom. At all times, recording by any other means is not permitted without prior written permission from the event sponsor or as an approved accommodation.