Botanical Fieldwork

The Blog

The plant research conducted at BBG extends beyond New York City. This blog tracks the global expeditions of BBG's botanists.

The Expedition

Dr. Susan Pell, BBG's director of Science

In March 2011, BBG’s director of Science, Dr. Susan Pell, is leading an expedition to collect members of the cashew family (Anacardiaceae) and the frankincense and myrrh family (Burseraceae) on New Caledonia’s Grande Terre and Île des Pins, in the western Pacific.

One Anacardiaceae genus in particular, Euroschinus, has diversified in New Caledonia to a greater degree than it has done throughout the rest of its range in the Pacific. DNA analysis of the collected specimens will contribute to understanding why this is so. One explanation may be the diversity of ancient soil types found in New Caledonia. Another may simply be the 65+ million years its flora has been isolated from other major landmasses. BBG’s work will help unravel this flora’s evolutionary and biogeographic histories.

Over the course of three weeks, Dr. Pell and her team will backpack to remote areas of the islands to locate and collect plant specimens. Her blog posts document her discoveries and provide a day-to-day picture of the process of field collection.

This expedition is funded by a grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (DEB-0919485).