Another reason to become a botanist

Here's an interview with one of my colleagues at the New York Botanical Garden about what he does and why he does it.  Unfortunately, universities find doing this type of research much less desireable so it falls to botanical gardens to carry this ball.  It remains a struggle to keep herbarium collections from being sold or given away, or stashed in some attic or basement corner, or simply thrown out.  Fortunately, interest in botany remains just high enough to keep things going at my institution, but not without a lot of constant pressure to maintain diversity.