Our Mission
BRIT's mission is to conserve our natural heritage by deepening our knowledge of the plant world and achieving public understanding of the value plants bring to life.
Founded in 1987 and based in Fort Worth, BRIT documents the diversity of plant life and conducts extensive research around the world. In the last 10 years, BRIT scientists have located and described scores of species previously unknown to science.Similar to the botanist-explorers of the 18th century, our scientists share the same desires and traits as Sir Joseph Banks, Captain James Cook, and Charles Darwin. We're adventurous, curious, passionate, independent, and smart. In addition, we are teachers. We are driven to find new plant species and research plant life for agricultural, economic, environmental, medical, and social uses and to share that knowledge in the classroom and the research laboratory.
Current major projects are ongoing around Texas, Oklahoma, and in Southeastern US, as well as in Mexico, Belize, China, and the Philippines.
Significance of BRIT
BRIT supports botanical solutions to address globally challenging problems ranging from pollution clean-up to sustainable food sources. By serving as a think tank and catalyst, BRIT inspires learning and forms interdisciplinary collaborations for critical research within scientific, educational, social, cultural, and business communities.
Our work impacts our community and the world in a number of functional areas including, environment, by giving people a local sense of stewardship; society, by training a new generation of thinkers and problem solvers; and conservation, by offering methods for better stewardship of the land.