The State Botanical Garden will host the annual Johnstone Lecture and reception Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. in the Gardenside Room of its Visitor Center/Conservatory.
Elizabeth King, assistant professor in UGA’s Odum School of Ecology and Warnell School of Forestry and Natural Resources, will deliver this year’s lecture “People and Plants: Aloes, Ecosystem Health and Livelihoods in Kenya.” The lecture is part of the 25th anniversary celebration of the university’s African Studies Institute.
King will explain how native aloe species not only produce valuable medicinal sap but also can be used to help restore degraded grasslands in Kenya. For the past 18 years, she has been working in Kenya studying plan conservation and restoration ecology and working with rural communities to rehabilitate damaged landscapes. She describes her career as combining ecological and social perspectives to help strengthen the resilience of people and ecosystems in African drylands.
The Johnstone Lecture honors the garden’s first director, Francis E. Johnstone Jr., and is sponsored by Friends of the State Botanical Garden. Admission is free but pre-registration is requested. For more information or to register, call
706-542-6138. Reservations will not be accepted via the website.
