Stacy Anderson

Stacy Anderson serves San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance as a Research Coordinator in Plant Conservation. In this role, she leads the efforts of the Native Plant Seed Bank to collect seed from wild plant populations as part of the Millennium Seed Bank Project, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and the federal Seeds of Success program. Stacy also works closely with the Safari Park’s Horticulture department to collect seeds for our Botanical Asset Protection Plan. Her work involves targeting species for collection, monitoring phenology, and collecting healthy ripe seed and preparing it for long-term storage. Determining germination requirements is also a critical component of seed conservation and requires experimentation and research. In addition to seed banking, Stacy has a phenology monitoring project based at the San Diego Safari Park Biodiversity Reserve.

Stacy’s current focus is participating in the California Plant Rescue Initiative, a consortium of regional botanic gardens and seed banks working in a concerted effort to conserve rare and threatened wild plant species of California. This collaboration with the Center for Plant Conservation and the California Native Plant Society seeks to bank 75% of the threatened or endangered plant species in California by 2020. In working to prioritize and conserve, but not over-collect, California’s rare plants, the initiative requires participating organizations to coordinate and work as a team with federal and local government agencies.

Growing up in San Diego has made Stacy appreciate the local plant diversity that is abundant in San Diego County. She has five associates’ degrees in Horticulture from Cuyamaca College. While her background began in horticulture, Stacy’s interests have expanded into the conservation of native plant species as well as permacultural practices and she plans to continue her education in those areas.