Chicago Botanic Garden - Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center

Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center

The Chicago Botanic Garden opened the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center to the public on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 at the south end of the Garden. In September 2010, the Plant Science Center earned a GOLD LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating from the U.S. Green Building Council because of its sustainable design. The rating system is based on points accumulated in six major categories, including sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, and innovation and design process. LEED standards increase initial building costs but decrease long-term operating expenses. By choosing to build this way, the Garden demonstrates its ongoing commitment to sustainable building and development practices.

The Plant Science Center provides laboratories and teaching facilities for more than 200 Ph.D. scientists, land managers, students, and interns whose research is critical to fulfilling the Garden’s efforts to save our planet by saving our plants. The 38,000-square-foot (3,500 m2) Plant Science Center also serves as home to a unique doctoral program in plant biology and conservation with Northwestern University and is US headquarters for Botantic Garden's Conservation International (BGCI), underscoring the Garden’s international efforts in plant conservation. A viewing gallery and the 16,000-square-foot (1,500 m2) Green Roof Garden are open to the public, giving nearly 950,000 visitors and schoolchildren each year the opportunity to view plant science firsthand.

The Garden’s 35 plant conservation and botany scientists address threats to endangered flora, train plant conservation leaders and research plant conservation policy. Programs and research focus on the collection, evaluation, introduction and preservation of plants within the context of threats such as climate change, global warming and human impacts.

The Chicago Botanic Garden conserves rare plant species, and is working with regional, national and international organizations on behalf of plant conservation. The Garden is a partner in the Seeds of Success project, a branch of the Millennium Seed Bank Project managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The goal is to collect 10,000 seeds from each of 1,500 native species of the Midwest for conservation and restoration efforts. The Garden is also a partner in the Plants of Concern initiative to monitor rare species in Northeastern Illinois.

The Garden is a member of Chicago Wilderness, a consortium of 200 local institutions dedicated to preserving and restoring Chicago’s natural areas, as well as the Center for Plant Conservation, a group of 30 other botanic gardens and arboreta committed to conserving rare plants from their region.

In trial and demonstration gardens, indoor greenhouses and laboratories located in the Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Resource Center, Garden horticulturists test plants to determine those that are best-suited for local gardens.

In 2001, in partnership with The Federal Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the Chicago Botanic Garden's Division of Plant Science and Conservation launched a mentoring program that trains and employs science graduates from a wide variety of fields to assist land managers with their huge task of preserving and protecting our public lands. Since then, the National Park Service (NPS) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) have also become valued partners.

Through this partnership, approximately 100 biologists and graduates from universities across the country receive five-month paid CLM internships to assist professional staff at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Park Service (NPS), or U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Internships are primarily located in one of the 13 western states, including Alaska. These internships involve work in botany or wildlife-related fields, or combinations that may include monitoring or assessing threatened and endangered species and habitats.