HIPS is happy to welcome Dr. William Baker back to our free public lecture series to talk about his latest expedition to Borneo in 2018. 

With over 300 palm species, Borneo has the richest palm flora of any Malesian island. Bill will take us on an expedition leading into the heart of Borneo, the Lanjak Entimau Wildlife Sanctuary, deep in a remote region of Sarawak.  Bill will give us a glimpse of some of the palm species his team confirmed in the area, and explain why developing a species checklist is an important part of any conservation effort.

Bill works on the Royal Botanic Garden’s Tree of Life project in the UK.  The project aims to create a genomic map of all plants and fungi.  Bill splits his time between herbarium, genetics lab, and the field to fill in the gaps in the data relating to palms.  Bill's book, The Palms of New Guinea will be out in September 2023.  

Come early, there will be a silent auction of interesting palms starting at 6:30pm.  There will also be a chance at winning a couple of palms by answering pop quiz questions during the talk.  The talk will start at 7:00pm.