Archiving Eden: The Vaults (2008 – Present)

Spurred by the impending completion of the Svarlbard Global Seed Vault, I initiated Vault in 2008 to explore the role of seed banks and their preservation efforts in the face of climate change, the extinction of natural species, and decreased agricultural diversity. Serving as a global botanical backup system, these privately and publicly funded institutions assure the opportunity for reintroduction of species should a catastrophic event or civil strife affect a key ecosystem somewhere in the world.

Taken at the world’s largest and most comprehensive collections including the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation in Fort Collins, Colorado; the Millennium Seed Bank, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Wakehurst Place in Sussex, England; and the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, these view camera photographs trace in precise detail the spaces and technology of involved in this important effort.

Special thanks go to the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation,  USDA-ARS National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation; to the Millennium Seed Bank, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew; to the Desert Legume Program, University of Arizona/Boyce Thompson Arboretum; to the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center;  to the USDA-ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository for Pecans and Hickories; and to the Svalbard Global Seed Vault.