In April 2024, Hoyt Arboretum was fortunate to welcome Shaueel Persadee, a Trinidadian wildlife conservationist and an intern from the New York Botanical Garden School of Professional Horticulture. Shaueel’s arrival brought an exciting perspective, boundless energy, and infectious optimism to the Arboretum team, as he worked closely with Curator Martin Nicholson.
“When I was looking at internship opportunities, I really wanted to travel from NY because once you get a job, you kind of have to stick around there,” Shaueel shared. “But once I found Hoyt and the PNW, immediately I was like, this is exactly what I want.”
He was drawn to the Pacific Northwest from nature iconography from films and stories, and he knew Hoyt Arboretum was the right place for him to “blend plant culture, knowledge, and conservation,” to further his planet-saving career.
A significant part of Shaueel’s work involved using cutting-edge technology to support early efforts in updating Hoyt Arboretum’s Collections Policy. By employing the Climate Assessment Tool (CAT), he assessed the future suitability of various tree species under predicted climate scenarios.
“The technology is super cool,” he explained. “It takes datasets of current known occurrences of species in the wild and in cultivation, the known climate conditions they’ve lived in, and the projected climate conditions in our area.” By inputting species from Hoyt’s Conifer, Maple, and Magnolia collections, Shaueel helped determine their likelihood of survival in 2050 and 2090.
This work laid the foundation for science-backed collections decisions. For instance, when an ice storm in January destroyed a section of true firs at Fairview and Fischer, Shaueel used CAT data to recommend climate-resilient spruce species as replacements. “I really loved working on the spruce project,” he reflected. “Picking the right plants for the right place is going to be so important for me to know how to do in my career.”
Shaueel’s creativity shone through in his projects, from designing planting sites to giving presentations full of beautiful pictures, inspirational quotes, and anime references. He also documented his journey through blogs and photos, sharing his experiences with a wider audience.
The internship culminated in Shaueel’s first ever collections trip this September. While packing up supplies in the office he listed off things he was excited to see and plants he hoped to find while lamenting how early they needed to wake up the next day.
Read Shaueel’s firsthand account and see some of his beautiful pictures in his blog, Recollections of a Seed Collection Trip.
After they returned from the mountains, Shaueel returned to New York for school, and is on track to graduate in March. He hopes to work in the public or nonprofit sector doing environmental restoration.
“I also need a sponsorship to work in the United States, but ideally, I would return to the Pacific Northwest–even though I get cold easily!” he shared smiling, “I want to work in a place like this—a garden with vast open space where you can get lost but still maintain a natural feel.”
Shaueel’s experiences at Hoyt Arboretum are paving the way for a new generation of stewards dedicated to protecting trees in the face of climate change. Knowing that people as bright, optimistic, and dedicated as Shaueel are on the case gives us hope for the future of trees.
We can’t wait to see what he does next!