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Mapping the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Advanced GIS

Final Project

Emily Baumbach

PROJECT SCOPE: This project focsuses on mapping locations of plant specimens at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in order to give current employees as well as visitors an additional resource to encourage them to expand their knowledgebase of plants within the garden areas. The purpose of this project is also to provide a map resource with plant locations that are user-friendly and also appealing to indiviudals using the map features. With these characteristics in mind, the map was created in a simplistic fashion giving easy access to a wide variety of mapviewers to utilize. Current challenges at the garden that have resulted in the creation of this project include a lack of available resources to employees as well as garden visitors to locate and identify specific plants.This project can also act as a platform for potential school groups who collaborate with BBG through environmental programs. This project in particular may become a valuable resourse for BBG's partnership with the Brooklyn Academy of Science and the Environment (BASE), a New York City public high school in Brooklyn that focuses on environmental-based education and creates an active learning community that addresses the needs of urban youth while also embracing environmental science, environmental justice, urban ecology, and science research. The data being collected for each of the plants samples in this project included Location (Latitude, Longitude), Common Name, Scientific Name, Plant, and Native Origin. Data was collected using a Garmin GPSMap 78 and was then uploaded onto CartoDB. The final map product includes plants categorized based on garden area location, links to learn more about areas of the garden, as well as supplementary photos for each plant specimen mapped.

AREAS OF THE GARDEN COEVERED IN THIS PROJECT INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING:


Brief History of Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Originally known as the Institute Park, the City of Brooklyn purchasd land, 39 acres, for a botanic garden in 1910. The area opened as the Brooklyn Botanic Garden on May 13, 1911, with the Native Flora Garden as teh first established section. Over the next three decades, garden grounds included the Osborne Garden, Cranford Rose Garden, Magnolia Plaza, and Plant Collection. The Conservatory and Laboratory Building were constructed beginning in 1912
Located in the Prospect Park neighborhood, the garden expands over 52 acres including a number of specialty gardens, plant collections, and the Steinhardt Conservatory Center which hold the Bonsai Museum, three climate-themes plant pavilions, an aquatic plant house, and an art gallery

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BROOKLYN BOTANIC GARDEN HERE

Easy example | CartoDB.js


Additional Notable Areas in the Garden
Shrine to the Shinto god of the harvest and protector of plants, Inari. People pray to Inari for a good harvest with food to be plenty. The building is typical of the traditional Shinto shrines in Japan. Shrines are usually found in the vicinity of temples. The woods used in the construction of this shrine were white cedar, ash, redwood and cypress. The structure is held together chiefly by wooden pegs.
The Japanese Garden Pond is one of the oldest and most visited Japanese-inspired garden areas outside Japan.It is a blend of ancient hill-and-pond style with various landscape features gradually revealed along winding paths. The torii is a traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine and marks the transition from the profane to the sacred.
The Shakespeare Garden Displays more than 80 herbs, flowers, shrubs, and trees mentioned in the Bard's sonnets and plays. All items in the garden are hallmarks of an informal Elizabethan cottage garden. Gardens of this type contain a blend of edible and medicinal plants alongside decorative flowers.
New York City and the surrounding region suffered tremendous damage and loss during Hurricane Sandy. In the wake of the devistation, BBG was inspired to creat a symbol of hope and revitalization. The Brooklyn Botanic Garden constructed a tree house called Sandy Remix as a project or reuse and recycling comprised of 14 kinds of trees.
The Herb Garden is a decorative but utilitarian kitchen garden that opened in 2010 and tells the story of the worldwide origins of plants we use every day and reflects the many cultures and culinary traditions of Brooklyn's communities. This garden serves as a living classroom for practical urban gardening techniques and sustainable food choices.
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