Plants are essential to human life, but for the plants at the Donald E. David Arboretum, specialist Patrick Thompson is essential to theirs.
An Auburn graduate, Thompson started working at the arboretum in 2000 as a student.
Now he works maintaining its plant collection, including recording plants' arrival, growing them from seeds and planning all the habitat designs.
Thompson said he is also in charge of creating and presenting programs on anything related to Alabama.
Last spring, the arboretum hosted EarthFest, an event dedicated to celebrating Earth Day.
When he isn't working with the plants at the arboretum, he works in his own greenhouse, which once belonged to Dennis Rouse, former dean of the College of Agriculture.
He uses his greenhouse to maintain his plant collection and house extinct plants for the arboretum.
"We do a lot with rare plants," Thompson said. "We started the Alabama Plant Conservation Alliance."
The APCA monitors rare plants and holds them in a safe garden to be re-introduced into the wild, Thompson said.
After Thompson has finished his day, he said he enjoys spending time with his wife and two kids, Georgia and Frank.
"We watch epic movies like 'Harry Potter,' 'Star Wars' and 'Lord of the Rings,'" Thompson said.
Typical Schedule
6 a.m. Wake up and get the kids together for school.
7 a.m. Walk the kids to school. We walk to school every day.
8 a.m. Arrive back home. I water the rabbits and walk the dog. Then I do greenhouse stuff until 9.
9 a.m. Arrive at the arboretum. I walk around and make sure everything looks like it should. I'll also take pictures. Then I'll start my project of the day.
Noon- 2 p.m. Continue project of the day. Eat a sandwich and check my e-mail.
5:30 p.m. Leave the arboretum and go home. Work in the greenhouse making plants--sometimes I'll skip that though.
6 p.m. Sit down with the family and eat. Take a deep breath. I'll do house work--clean the aquarium, fold laundry and do dishes.
10:30 p.m. Bed.
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