This webinar is one of our Botanic Gardens Month professional development events in the lead up to Botanic Gardens Day on 26 May. The theme for Botanic Gardens Day this year is More than a garden ... protecting our plants and landscapes.

In this webinar Ngaire Gilligan will describe how jumping on the social phenomena bandwagon can bring about effective botanical education. She will also show how she has used this activity to inform teaching decisions later with other activities.

Ngaire is the Education and Interpretation Coordinator for the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Mt Coot-tha. Working with her team of education officers, she is responsible for coordinating (and presenting, when she can sneak it in) the school education program, community learning program (workshops, school holiday activities and education-based festivals/events) and all interpretive activities (displays, signage, strategy and wayfinding) at the botanic gardens.

Having previously worked as a research scientist (botanical and chemical control of weeds), secondary science teacher and environmental education officer, Ngaire’s interest is in educating people on the ecological value and cultural importance of plants in their lives, so that they can help “put the plant back into planet”. Her current pedagogical focus is on the development of child-centred learning experiences in nature that will help them develop close, empathetic connections with the natural world.