Welcome To BRIT

Plant to planet.®

Ever have a desire to discover? Ever have a desire to teach others what you've learned? We do - every day. By nature, that’s who we are. We’re the Botanical Research Institute of Texas, an international scientific research and learning center focused on conservation and knowledge sharing.

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Exhibits

The Madeline R. Samples Exhibit Hall & The Welcome Center Gallery

Botanical art plays an important role at BRIT and we are fortunate to have two exhibit spaces, the elegant Madeline R. Samples Exhibit Hall and the intimate Welcome Center Gallery, in which to display a variety of art from both well-known and emerging local artists. BRIT joins with the rest of the Fort Worth visual arts community twice a year and participates in spring and fall Gallery Nights.

Interested in exhibiting at BRIT? Please see our submission guidelines here.

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The Fifth Kingdom

Botanical Art - Six Ways
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Botanical Arts and Crafts

The Art of Science. The Science of Art.

Get in touch with your inner artist by taking a class in botanical drawing, painting, or photography or by attending one of our hands-on, nature-inspired craft workshops. You will find options for all interests and skill levels. These classes, taught by accomplished, professional artists, will not only allow you to increase your skills but will also enhance your understanding of the natural world.

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Botanical Painting in Oils

Ink Techniques for Botanical Subjects
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Horticulture and Gardening

Come discover how your garden grows.

As community leaders in plant based knowledge and education, BRIT and the Fort Worth Botanic Garden are pleased to partner with experts in the fields of horticulture and gardening to provide the public with opportunities to expand their knowledge of the plant world through a variety of classes and workshops. 

These half and full day classes and workshops will take place on the BRIT campus, at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, and in the field. Please check the individual event announcements for further details.

 

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Survive and Thrive with Native and Adapted Plants

Vegetable Gardening
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Food, Health, and Wellness

Feed your mind, body, and soul.

Feed your mind, body, and soul and learn something new by attending one of our Food, Health, and Wellness classes at BRIT. Come discover the connections between the botanical and culinary worlds, come learn new ways to achieve and maintain a balanced lifestyle, and best of all, come spend some quality time on our beautiful garden campus located in the heart of the Fort Worth Cultural District!

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Super Summer Salads

Pesto-mania
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Recent Articles

A Natural Nature Networker

by Dan Caudle
The annual Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Convention was held at the Fort Worth Convention Center at the end of March. The associated trade show was open to the public, and there were more than 200 exhibitors/vendors offering giveaways and information at various booths. Our own Dan Caudle, Resident Research Associate, worked several booths on behalf of the Youth Range Workshop , Texas Grazing Land Coalition (TXGLC) , and the Grazing Animal Nutrition (GAN) Lab at the Blackland Research and Extension Center , this last of whom (according to Dan) "test livestock fecal samples with Near Infrared Spectroscopy to determine nutritional value of the forages that have actually been consumed, digested, and passed through the animals." You know...as one does (!!!!). Though officially "retired"...
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Dr. Sherwin Carlquist Collection

by Brandy Watts
In honor of National Library Week, BRIT Library would like to highlight a recent acquisition of the BRIT Library & Archive collection. In July of 2018, BRIT Library acquired the collection of botanist Sherwin Carlquist. This acquisition includes 100,000 color field photograph slides, 5,000 microscope slides, and 15 field notebooks. Carlquist is a Guggenheim fellow and a plant anatomist based at Santa Barbara Botanic Garden Herbarium (SBBG) in California and continues to publish on his research findings to this day. Over the course of his career, the primary focus of his research has been on island biogeography and island flora. The most active years of his field research span from 1953-1989 and include regions such as Western Australia, New Zealand, Hawaii, Japan, Malaysia, and Africa.
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Mary Sophie Young

by Brandy Watts
In honor of International Women’s Day 2019, on March 8, 2019, BRIT Library highlighted the botanist Mary Sophie Young. As one of the earliest botanists at University of Texas, Mary Sophie Young’s extensive collecting throughout Texas greatly contributed to the flora of Texas as well as the holdings of the University of Texas herbarium. The estimated number of her collection is thought to be in the vicinity of 10,000. Young was born in Glendale, Ohio, in 1872. She earned her B.A. at Wellesley College in 1895 and her PhD from the University of Chicago in 1910. In 1912, she became the curator of the University of Texas at Austin herbarium as well as a faculty member in the botany department.
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Two Dozen Reasons

by Dan Caudle
Resident Research Associate and retired USDA-NRCS rangeland specialist Dan Caudle shares his thoughts on the value of his continued involvement with the annual Texas Youth Range Workshop, the flagship educational opportunity of TSSRM (Texas Section of Society of Range Management).
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Two Botanists and An Artist Walk Into the Desert...

by Barney L. Lipscomb
The Amon Carter Museum of American Art (ACMAA) sponsored Barney Lipscomb and Tiana Rehman to serve as botanical guides to West Texas for artist Mark Dion. Commissioned by the ACMAA, Mark—a contemporary artist who is part explorer, part historian, part naturalist, and part collector—is making a series of exploratory journeys through Texas that are inspired by four early naturalists/artists in Texas: Sarah Ann Lillie Hardinge (1824–1913), John James Audubon (1785–1851), Frank Law Olmsted (1822–1903), and Charles Wright (1811–1885). In 2020, the ACMAA Special Exhibition Galleries will tell the story of these early Texas Artists and natural history travelers in Texas. Map of Wright's journey through West Texas (from Flowering Plants of Trans-Pecos Texas and Adjacent Areas ) BRIT’s West Texas t...
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Campus Tours

Learn about BRIT's history, collections, and programs. Public and private tours available!

Hours and Location

Closed on Mondays. The building is open to visitors 10am - 4pm, Tuesday - Friday and most Saturday mornings (February through November). The BRIT Libraries and Herbarium are open for public use by appointment.

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Stunning architecture, floor-to-ceilings windows, and a message of sustainability make BRIT a unique place for any event.
News
Call for Entries - BRIT®/FIVS 2020 International Sustainable Winegrowing Competition
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