Global Genome Initiative: Field Teams

As part of the Global Genome Initiative’s commitment to train the next generation of genomic scientists, a summer field team of young and aspiring scientists will assist in sampling plants from partner gardens in DC. National Museum of Natural History curator, Vicki Funk, works with members of the summer field team to collect samples from the U.S. Botanic Garden. On July 8, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History announced that scientists with the museum’s Global Genome Initiative — a component of the Smithsonian Institute for Biodiversity Genomics — will capture the genomic diversity of half the world’s living plant genera in less than two years.

Photo credit: U.S. Botanic Garden