About
A career shaped by rarity.
I have spent more than two decades finding, studying, and trying to conserve some of North America’s rarest plants. That work changed the questions I ask, from What is this plant? and Where does it occur? to What will it take to keep it from disappearing?
My work sits at the intersection of botany, conservation, and collaboration, combining scientific research, strategic thinking, and partnership to protect our most imperiled plant species.
From discovery to conservation.
I began my career as a field botanist, inventorying natural areas, documenting rare species, rediscovering plants not seen for generations, and helping describe species new to science. I worked first with the Maryland Natural Heritage Program, then the North Carolina Natural Heritage Program, and later as Chief Botanist at NatureServe.
Along the way, I also saw what happens when conservation comes too late. I have worked on species now considered extinct and watched irreplaceable natural areas disappear. Those experiences pushed me toward a broader challenge: not simply documenting biodiversity, but building the systems needed to save it.
Discovery
Know what is there.
Field botany, taxonomy, floristics, rediscovery, and the patient work of documenting the natural world.
Understanding
Know what is at risk.
Extinction research, conservation status assessment, and understanding where limited conservation resources matter most.
Action
Build the capacity to save it.
Today my work centers on partnerships, institutions, data, funding, and public commitment that can move species from documentation toward recovery.
Impact at a glance
A career moving from discovery to conservation at scale.
25+
Years in plant conservation
Field botany, taxonomy, conservation science, and leadership.
85
CPC Conservation Partners
A national network of botanical gardens and conservation organizations working together to prevent plant extinction.
2,600+
Rare plants safeguarded
Species represented in CPC’s National Collection through conservation collections maintained across the network.
Now building at national scale
Connecting taxonomy, geography, conservation status, and recovery through the Consensus Plant Checklist, geospatial work with Esri, and conservation-status integration.
Leading for plant survival.
As Chief Executive Officer of the Center for Plant Conservation, I work with botanical gardens, conservation organizations, scientists, agencies, funders, and communities to prevent plant extinction. The goal is practical: identify the plants in greatest danger, safeguard their genetic diversity, solve the problems limiting recovery, and return secure populations to the wild.
Wesley Knapp 