Often referred to as a "tropical paradise", the Williams Conservatory is a teaching and research facility that receives thousands of visitors yearly from all over the country. Conservatory facilities are used by researchers, educators, students in both K-12 and post-secondary levels, artists, horticulture enthusiasts, prospective students, and tourists.
Our collections consist of more than 860 living plant specimens from our teaching greenhouse, 60 native plants and fungi from our "Plants of the West" mural, nearly 300 educational texts from our in-house library, and over 120 native plant species from our outdoor gardens.
We are a public resource open year-around!
Our Mission
We support a mission of research, teaching, and outreach.
Research
Our greenhouse offers 600 sq ft of growing space to support research at the University of Wyoming. Research within the Botany Department takes priority over space, but additional projects that are supported include growing space for undergraduate classes and research, RSO activities, projects supporting 4-H programs and UW Extension, and more. Additionally, our teaching collection serves as a resource for studies revolving pollination, drone technology, remote sensing, machine learning, and more.
Teaching
University classes often sample from our teaching collection through visits tailored to meet specific course objectives. Commonly discussed topics include plant biology and physiology, plant ecology and biodiversity, plant evolution and adaptation, plant systematics, ethnobotany, Integrated Pest Management, greenhouse management, and more. Our facility serves as a resource for not only botany and plant science courses, but also courses in art, english, engineering, education, museum studies, and more. K-12 educators also take advantage of our collection to teach their students various topics revolving plant biology, diversity, and more. To further maintain our mission as a teaching facility, we offer publically accesible records of our entire collection through our digital database that contains information about over 1,000 plant, fungi, and animal species.
Outreach
Conservatory staff offer expert botanical advice to visiting patrons and participate in many community events, both in Laramie and surrounding cities, revolving educational outreach for all ages. Support for our operations is largely funded through the various workshops and plant sales that we host throughout the year. All fundraising efforts directly support our teaching and outreach goals.
See pictures from the
Williams Conservatory!
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