So, in case you don’t know, I work at an Arboretum. If you’ve never been to one, you are missing out. An Arboretum is a tree museum, and they are magical, fabulous places -- my Arboretum has specimens from over 40 different countries. We have our living collections all over a large outdoor campus, as well as an herbarium with dried specimens dating back at least a hundred years. Living collections and herbarium collections help scientists learn about where certain trees used to grow and what conditions they need to grow in our present climate conditions. They help us breed new trees and plants with specific traits, like drought tolerance or disease resistance.
There is a tree, native to Australia, called the Wollemi Pine. These trees are so rare that there are less than 100 of them growing in the wild and the exact location where they grow is a kind of closely guarded national secret. We have a  cultivated specimen here at the Arboretum. And today I got to help transport it across a parking lot. I feel like I just met a rockstar.
