The John P. Bunker Lecture Series Presents:
Urban Nature : Human Nature
featuring: Peter del Tredici
FREE and open to the public
7pm Reception with Peter
8pm Lecture
at Edgewood Farm

Peter will Speak on: Urban Nature : Human Nature Peter Del Tredici, Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University Urban ecosystems are the ultimate manifestation of the dynamic conflict between humans and nature—between our desire for neat, orderly landscapes on the one hand and our fear of messy ecological chaos on the other. This presentation will focus on the plants that grow without cultivation in cities and their remarkable ability to flourish in spite of stressful environmental conditions. Cities—along with the plants and animals they support—can be considered “novel” ecosystems that not only reflect a tumultuous past but also preview of an unpredictable future. The spontaneous vegetation that inhabits our cities is as cosmopolitan as its people and, quite frankly, better adapted to their changing environmental conditions than the native species that once grew there. Like it or not, these novel ecosystems have become the new normal in many urban areas and people need to recognize the contributions they make in terms of making cities more livable and helping clean up the mess we have made of the planet.

Read a great article in the Provincetown Independent HERE!

Peter Del Tredici is an American botanist and author. He is a former senior research scientist at Arnold Arboretum for 35 years and a lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He was appointed curator of the LarzAnderson Bonsai Collection in 1982 and was editor of the journal Arnoldia from 1989 to 1992.

Peter holds a BA degree in Zoology from the University of California, Berkeley (1968), a MA degree in Biology from the University of Oregon (1969), and a Ph.D. in Biology from Boston University (1991). He retired from the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University in 2014 after working there for 35 years as Plant Propagator, Curator of the Larz Anderson Bonsai Collection, Editor of Arnoldia, Director of Living Collections and Senior Research Scientist. Dr. Del Tredici taught in the Landscape Architecture Department at the Harvard Graduate School of Design from 1992 through 2016 and is currently teaching courses on Urban Ecology in DUSP. He is the winner of the 1999 Arthur Hoyt Scott Medal and Award presented by the Scott Arboretum of Swarthmore College and in 2013 the Veitch Gold Medal presented by The Royal Horticultural Society (England) “in recognition of services given in the advancement of the science and practice of horticulture.”Dr. Del Tredici's interests are wide ranging and include such subjects as plant exploration in China, the root systems of woody plants, the botany and horticulture of magnolias, stewartias and hemlocks. He is an expert on the Ginkgo tree--having studied it for over 25 years--and has made numerous trips to China to study its natural and cultural history. Since 2004, his work has focused on urban ecology which resulted in the publication of the widely acclaimed “Wild Urban Plants of the Northeast: A Field Guide” (Cornell University Press, 2010) as well as a GPS-based mobile app, "Other Order" (2014) which interprets the natural and cultural history of the Bussey Brook Meadow section of the Arnold Arboretum (with Teri Rueb). His other interests include climate change impacts plant phenology and the history and ecology of invasive species. He lectures widely in North America and Europe and is the author of more than 130 scientific and popular articles.