Special features for Earth Month! The wild ancestors and cousins of our domesticated crops still exist in many places around the world. These crop wild relatives represent  valuable genetic resources that we can use to breed crops more resilient to climate change, such as drought or flood resistance. Ironically, human activity is now threatening the habitats of many of these important species that our future food security could depend on, and some are even facing extinction. Come learn about the fascinating botany of crop wild relatives and why they matter.

This is a special edition of the greenhouse’s regular monthly open house on the first Thursday of the month.

Contact: Dr. Leon van Eck, Assistant Professor of Biology (vaneck@augsburg.edu)