Speakers

Dr.  Lee Foote has been the Director of the University of Alberta Botanic Garden (formerly Devonian Botanic Garden) for 7 years. He is also a professor of conservation biology in the Faculty of Agriculture, Life and Environmental Science at the University of Alberta. His research focuses on management of plant community development and wildlife ecology. He is an active outdoorsman, a moderate hobby gardener, an avid photographer and a folk musician. He is married to Dr. Naomi Krogman, a professor of Environmental Sociology and they have two daughters active in the drama and folk music scenes of Edmonton and Montreal.  

The Aga Khan Garden (AKG) is an 11.5 acre, $25 million gift from the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslims, to all the people of Canada. It is owned and managed by the University of Alberta and is the most northerly Islamic garden on earth. The garden goal is to create a secular garden of sensory delights by engaging sight, sound, taste, touch and smell in a spacious immersive experience. Lee Foote will present the intricate stonework, fountains, amphitheater, sunken beds and fruit tree forest as borrowed historic influences from Mogul, Ottoman and contemporary gardens. The garden is a designated safe space conveying an ethos of gifting, gratitude, acceptance, peace and pluralism. 

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