The New York Botanical Garden (NYBG) announces the addition of two leading scholars to its formidable Science division: Mauricio Diazgranados, Ph.D., will join the Botanical Garden on June 12 as its Chief Science Officer and Dean of the International Plant Science Center, and Eric Sanderson, Ph.D., began serving as the Garden’s inaugural Vice President for Urban Conservation Strategy on March 27, 2023. The appointments reflect NYBG’s commitment to addressing urgent global climate and biodiversity challenges.
As Chief Science Officer and Dean of the International Plant Science Center, Dr. Diazgranados will lead strategic positioning and planning for NYBG’s Science Division. He joins NYBG from the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London, where he serves as a Research Leader responsible for leading Kew’s Nature-based Solutions Initiative, which works to address environmental and societal challenges. Previously, Dr. Diazgranados was Director for Science at the Bogotá Botanical Garden, where he funded and led the construction of the largest greenhouse in South America. With over 20 years of teaching experience, including lecturing on botany and biology at several universities, Dr. Diazgranados has produced a large body of notable scholarship and is frequently invited to share his insights in presentations and talks as a guest speaker. While at Kew, Dr. Diazgranados led the development and publication of the Catalogue of Useful Plants of Colombia and the Catalogue of Fungi of Colombia, which have quickly become highly impactful and referenced works on one of the world’s most biodiverse countries.
Dr. Sanderson has joined the Garden as its first-ever Vice President for Urban Conservation Strategy, a newly created role that will leverage the Garden’s scientific and public platforms to develop and propose solutions for environmental issues affecting New York City and cities across the globe. With decades of experience in conservation ecology, Dr. Sanderson comes to NYBG from the Wildlife Conservation Society, where he has worked with a team of scientists and technical experts to save wild places and natural habitats. Dr. Sanderson has produced highly influential scholarship, including his work on the Manahatta project and the Welikia project, and other notable publications, including Terra Nova: The New World After Oil, Cars, and Suburbs and Prospects for Resilience: Insights from New York City's Jamaica Bay. Consistent across Dr. Sanderson’s work is his drive to examine how nature can improve urban life and address global and local challenges, such as climate change and resilience, the obesity epidemic, and even war.
“The New York Botanical Garden is firmly committed to advancing plant science and biodiversity research to better understand and protect the natural world,” said Jennifer Bernstein, Chief Executive Officer and The William C. Steere Sr. President of NYBG. “As such, we are thrilled for Mauricio and Eric to join our NYBG team. Their experiences, expertise, and leadership will position our estimable Science program to make an even greater impact for the good of our borough, our city, and our planet.”
“I am excited at the opportunity to lead and learn from the incredible Science team at The New York Botanical Garden,” said Dr. Mauricio Diazgranados, incoming Chief Science Officer and Dean of the International Plant Science Center. “As a scholar, I have long been interested in the profound impact of climate change on plants and natural biodiversity, and I share NYBG’s commitment to centering plants and nature-based solutions to advance global conservation.”
“As a student of New York City’s unique landscape and diverse ecosystems, I have long admired the work, natural beauty, and commitment to place of The New York Botanical Garden,” said Dr. Eric Sanderson. “I am inspired to join the Garden as its first-ever Vice President for Urban Conservation Strategy and to work alongside my new colleagues, as well as decisionmakers in the Bronx, across New York City, and beyond, to address climate change and biodiversity loss. If all the world is a stage, New York is the city in the spotlight; what we do here will be felt everywhere.”
The New York Botanical Garden is a world leader in plant science research. As global communities confront the intersecting biodiversity and climate crises, NYBG is firmly committed to allocating resources and talent towards developing solutions to these grave threats and to inspiring the next generation of scientific leaders. The New York Botanical Garden is proud to welcome Dr. Mauricio Diazgranados and Dr. Eric Sanderson to its team, in the spirit of this urgent mission.
About The New York Botanical Garden
Founded in 1891, The New York Botanical Garden is the most comprehensive botanical garden in the world and an integral part of the cultural fabric of New York City, anchored in the Bronx. Visitors come to the Garden to connect with nature for joy, beauty, and respite, and for renowned plant-based exhibitions, music and dance, and poetry and lectures. Innovative children’s education programs promote environmental sustainability and nutrition awareness, graduate programs educate the next generation of botanists, while engaging classes inspire adults to remain lifelong learners. The 250-acre verdant landscape—which includes a 50-acre, old-growth forest—and the landmark Enid A. Haupt Conservatory support living collections of more than one million plants. Unparalleled resources are also held in the LuEsther T. Mertz Library, the world’s most important botanical and horticultural library with 11 million archival items spanning ten centuries, and the William and Lynda Steere Herbarium, the largest in the Western Hemisphere with 7.8 million plant and fungal specimens. Committed to protecting the planet’s biodiversity and natural resources, Garden scientists work on-site in cutting-edge molecular labs and in areas worldwide where biodiversity is most at risk.
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