Science Year in Review 2025: Research & Conservation Highlights

Each year, the Research and Conservation Department highlights our previous year’s accomplishments and projects through the annual Science Year in Review. In 2025, we welcomed a new head curator of the herbarium, expanded our work in rare plant conservation, restoration research and native seed cultivation. Additionally, each year we continue to provide community science initiatives for the public and improve tools for field data collection and data sharing. 

Denver Botanic Gardens welcomed Dr. Molly Nepokroeff as the head curator of the natural history collections. She brings herbarium management experience, research in systematics and a vast knowledge of Colorado flora. Her major priority for our collections is to fill in gaps through targeted surveys. 

The Gardens continues to develop nature-based solutions for climate resilience. By researching adaptions in native plant populations, we can improve seed sourcing and develop best practices for restoration projects. We also understand the value in making native seeds more accessible and have partnered with the Bureau of Land Management to increase seed stocks of four popular Colorado species, while developing procedures for large-scale seed production.

The natural history collections continue to evolve in an ever-changing world. The Sam Mitchel Herbarium of Fungi grew by 279 fungal specimens with 51 new species represented. Additionally, more than 85,000 vascular plant specimens in the Kathryn Kalmbach Vascular Plant Herbarium are undergoing assessment to update species names to reflect current understanding of taxonomy and evolutionary relationships. This ensures that specimens are easy to locate and align with the most recent research. 

Thanks to our dedicated staff for their commitment to preserving our planet through research, nature-based solutions, community engagement and data curation. We are also incredibly grateful to our wonderful volunteers and graduate students. We hope you check out the 2025 Science Year in Review and learn more about our research, projects and findings.  
 

This article was contributed by Research Coordinator Shasha McCracken and Floristic and Outreach Coordinator Alissa Iverson.