Have fun with botany! Understanding how plants grow and develop, how water and nutrients are taken up and distributed, and how leaves, flowers, stems, and roots function are key to becoming a successful gardener. Discover intriguing relationships between plants and pollinators, how seeds and fruits form, and why plants grow toward the sun. Develop basic plant identification skills and learn the reasons for using scientific names. You will be amazed at what goes on in the plants that live all around us. Dress for the weather. This program takes place in person at Mt. Cuba Center on Thursday 1/9 and Friday 1/10 (Rain Date: Wednesday, January 15). About the Instructors: Melissa Starkey, PhD, is the Marketing and Communications Manager at Mt. Cuba Center. She earned her PhD in biology from Northwestern University and an MSc in plant biodiversity and taxonomy from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and University of Edinburgh in Scotland. As part of her studies, she completed a certificate in field botany in Colombia. Melissa is an active Philadelphia County Master Gardener and PA Master Naturalist and serves on the Board of Directors at the Lehigh Gap Nature Center in PA, where she grew up. Eileen Hazard, community outreach coordinator at Mt. Cuba Center, enjoys connecting people to nature through gardening and science. She earned a BS in Civil Engineering from Lafayette College and an MS in Water Resources from the University of Vermont. She has supplemented her degrees with plant-focused biology classes at West Chester University, a PA Master Naturalist certification, and an Ecological Gardening Certificate. Prior to joining Mt. Cuba Center in 2014, Eileen worked in environmental consulting and education.