Researchers at the Missouri Botanical Garden’s William L. Brown Center have discovered extraordinarily high levels of omega fatty acids in a species which they encountered in Northern Peru. Omega fatty acids are essential for human health and must be obtained through food sources. Omega-3 fatty acids are also widely used in cosmetics.

The Tibetan sacred mountain Khawa Karpo supports one of the world’s most exceptional areas of plant and animal diversity. Now, this critical biodiversity hotspot is threatened with destruction from climate change, the stripping of resources and rapid development. Dr. Jan Salick at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, and Robert Moseley, director of conservation for The Nature Conservancy in Illinois, are leaders in their field. In their new book, “Khawa Karpo: Tibetan Traditional Knowledge and Biodiversity Conservation,” Salick and Moseley detail their vital conservation programs focused on Tibetan traditional knowledge of ethnobotany, ecology and natural resource management.