Plant Hunters

Home to the largest Victorian-era glasshouse in the U.S., The New York Botanical Garden’s Conservatory is a museum of plants from around the world. Opened in 1902 and recognized as a New York City landmark in 1973, the Plant Hunters experience is the latest manifestation of the Conservatory. Made in collaboration with the Education, Science and Horticulture divisions at NYBG, this Web site was designed as an immersive experience to introduce students to the wonders of botanical science.

Part comic book and part scavenger hunt, Second Story created lush, colorful, 360 degree illustrations of the Conservatory’s seven different ecosystems as the primary conduit for exploration of the site. Through these panoramic illustrations, students are invited to take an eco-tour of a diversity of biomes, including desert, rainforest, and aquatic environments. Specimens are called out with interactive hotspots that link to deeper information and media about the plants. After a plant has been “collected,” the visitor is invited to participate in various “challenges” that emphasize educational concepts, such as ethnobotany, evolution, and leaf morphology.