Ginkgo: The Tree That Time Forgot
Perhaps the world’s most distinctive tree, Ginkgo is a botanical oddity and a widely recognized botanical “living fossil.” Wild Ginkgo exists only in China, but today it is beloved for the elegance of its leaves, prized for its edible nuts, and revered for its longevity. It is one of the world’s most popular street trees and herbal medicines. The lecture will explore the evolutionary and cultural history of the species from its mysterious origin through its proliferation, drastic decline, and ultimate resurgence.
This event is being held in partnership with the Wisconsin Science Festival.
Sir Peter Crane
Professor Sir Peter Crane FRS is Carl W. Knobloch Jr. Dean of the School of Forestry and Environmental Studies at Yale University. His work focuses on the diversity of plant life – its origin, fossil history, current status, conservation and use. From 1982 to 1999 he was at the Field Museum in Chicago, and from 1999 to 2006 he was Director of The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. He returned to Chicago in 2006 as the John and Marion Sullivan University Professor at The University of Chicago, before being appointed at Yale in 2009.
Peter Crane was elected to the Royal Society in 1998 and was knighted for services to horticulture and conservation in 2004. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences, a Foreign Member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and a Member of the German Academy Leopoldina. He serves on the boards of several non-profit organizations and is the recipient of several honorary degrees, including an honorary doctorate of science from Cambridge University.