Team and Mission
CPC safeguards rare plants by advancing science-based conservation practices, connecting and empowering plant conservationists, and inspiring all to protect biodiversity for future generations.
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The Center for Plant Conservation (CPC) is a one-of-a-kind network, uniting plant conservationists from botanical gardens, arboreta, and other plant-focused organizations that collaboratively work to save the imperiled plants of the United States, its territories, and Canada, throughout their native range. CPC Participating Institutions maintain the CPC National Collection of Endangered Plants, a living conservation collection of imperiled plants, by working to collect and manage living seeds and plants, advancing our understanding of threats as well as means to save these species, and by communicating with partners within the CPC network to ensure that all are using the best and most up-to-date means possible to Save Plants.
Greater than the sum of its parts, the CPC network of Conservation Partners saves more plant species together than would ever be possible alone. This is done through the timely sharing of information, data, and expertise, and facilitated by the community of practice that is CPC where the world’s experts regularly convene to discuss and apply methods that result in far greater numbers of plants saved from extinction.
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The CPC National Office has been  headquartered at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, California since 2016, in partnership with the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, a CPC Participating Institution. CPC is grateful for the support of the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, and is proud to partner with their plant conservation team on various initiatives, including the Torrey Pine (Pinus torreyana ssp. torreyana) restoration project at the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve.
How We Save Plants
We work hard to continually advance the science of saving rare plant species.
We apply this science to save imperiled plant species.
We advocate on behalf of our collective efforts to Save Plants and promote the value of plants to humankind.
Why We Save Plants
Without plants there would be no us. Plants are integral to our quality of life and essential to our very survival. Plants clean the air, water and soil and provide food, clothing, medicine and shelter for the Earth’s 7 billion human inhabitants. Plants also hold an immeasurable intrinsic value, providing beauty, tranquility and escape from an ever increasingly chaotic world. Integral to the world’s ecosystem, plants and their incredible diversity make life as we know it possible.
The Results
To date, we now have over 40% of North American imperiled plants (2,000 of 4,400 kinds) secured in the CPC National Collection. We have active research programs going on in dozens of organizations in the U.S., all working to overcome conservation challenges for the remaining two thirds of imperiled North American plants. Challenges such as seed storage, plant propagation and preservation/recovery of species in the wild, are all being addressed by CPC partners.
CPC’s model of collaborative work and a shared responsibility to Save Plants, a world first, has been used as the basis for other national and global efforts. Our guidelines, developed over decades of intensive collaborative work, are used by many organizations and plant conservationists around the world to Save Plants.
Annual Report
We invite you to review our 2022 Annual Report to learn about recent initiatives and conservation milestones achieved in our mission to Save Plants from extinction.
Meet the Team
Scot Medbury
Interim CEOAs Interim CEO, Scot Medbury draws on his extensive experience working in public gardens and his long-standing association with CPC—including serving on the Board of Trustees for nine years and serving as a Conservation Officer from Hawai’i in the early 1990s—to provide leadership and continuity as he guides the organization to search for a new permanent CEO.
Scot brings to the Interim CEO role a distinguished career in the curation, cultivation, and interpretation of public gardens, which spans four decades. His experience includes prominent appointments at gardens in California, Washington, Hawai’i, Great Britain, and New Zealand. Notably, Scot is President Emeritus of Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) in New York City, where he served as the Garden’s sixth leader from 2005 to 2020. In addition to his tenure at BBG, Scot also held the position of Executive Director at Sonoma Botanical Garden (2020-2023) and served as Director of both the San Francisco Botanical Garden and the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers (1999-2005).
Scot holds two degrees from the University of Washington (UW) in Seattle: an MS from the UW Center for Urban Horticulture and a BA, Phi Beta Kappa, from the UW Jackson School of International Studies.
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Matora Fiorey, Ph.D.
Director of OperationsAs the Director of Operations, Matora Fiorey ensures operational efficiency to assist in saving plants. She provides support to the CPC staff and Board of Trustees while handling a wide variety of duties including financial management, human resources, compliance and event planning. Matora brings a unique background of over 15 years of experience as an administrator of a small nonprofit charter school and an organic chemistry background. She is dedicated to meaningful organizations and thrives when giving back to the community.
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Shannon Fowler, M.A.
Director of Communications & Public ProgramsShannon Fowler manages marketing and communications initiatives, supports advancement and fundraising activities, and serves as project manager for the upcoming Applied Plant Conservation Course. She also serves as the managing editor of CPC’s monthly newsletter and supports web-based educational communications on the Rare Plant Academy. Shannon brings to the team over ten years of experience in the museum industry, and a passion for blending mission-driven content with storytelling to engage, promote, and garner support.
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Tina Stanley
Conservation Program CoordinatorTina Stanley is a recent graduate from Princeton University’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. In her new role as Conservation Program Coordinator, she is responsible for grant program management, program development, meeting organization, and database management. Tina collaborates with CPC web developers to maintain and improve our organization’s data tools, including but not limited to, the National Collection database, CPC Reintroduction database, and Regional Seed Banking Modules. Tina also assists in the development of the online Applied Plant Conservation course and supports CPC’s marketing and communication efforts by developing content for monthly newsletters and social media platforms. She is passionate about accessible scientific resources, outreach, and education, and hopes to expand her knowledge in plant conservation and research.
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With your help we can safeguard more of the unique plants in peril and in need of protection by adding them to the National Collection and conserving them in the wild.
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