NTBG Lecture: Gingering Through Southeast Asia on January 20

Gingering Through Southeast Asia is January 20 Lecture

First Lecture in 2015 for Collaborative Series

“Gingering Through Southeast Asia” is the topic for a Tuesday, January 20 lecture by botanist David Lorence. The talk will be at 5:30 p.m. in the cafeteria at the KCC Campus Center in Puhi. This is the first lecture in the 2015 collaborative series “Balance of Nature” presented by the National Tropical Botanical Garden and Kaua‘i Community College.

Dr. Lorence will lead the audience on a virtual trek through the dense forests of Borneo and peninsular Malaysia in search of rare, wild gingers. Senior research botanist at the National Tropical Botanical Garden, Lorence is a leading authority in the study and collection of Zingiberales, an order of plants that includes gingers, heliconias, bananas, and other families. He will introduce Southeast Asia as a region rich in wild ginger diversity but one facing extinction threats from logging, oil plantations, and other development that lead to habitat loss, and will share the important role botanical gardens and organizations like NTBG play in their survival.

The “Balance of Nature” lecture series is one of many collaborations between the nonprofit National Tropical Botanical Garden and Kaua‘i Community College. Both NTBG and KCC share a common goal of quality education to truly change lives. NTBG is a not-for-profit institution, headquartered in Kalāheo. KCC, which is part of the University of Hawai‘i system, operates a large campus in Līhu‘e.

For questions about accessibility or to request accommodations, please contact Margaret Clark at

(808) 332-7324 ext. 225 at least 10 days in advance.

For information on the institutions, visit their respective websites at www.ntbg.org and kauai.hawaii.edu