This presentation is the culmination of his career in tourism to the world’s great gardens. In this session, beginning in the lush gardens of the pacific, through South America and Europe to South East Asia and Australia he will show garden enthusiasts and laymen alike the different and unique gardens and floral kingdoms of the world. He will take attendees through the three acres of gardens in Singapore airport, the arid gardens of Australia and the tropical gardens of the Seychelles (home of the love nut!) and the Canary Islands and culminating in the beautiful English country gardens of his home country, finishing with the unique and different gardens in the United States and Canada … in total 80 gardens in seven continents.

About the Presenter: Prior to coming to Central, Dr. Benfield was Senior Program Coordinator in the Division of Continuing Education at the University of Oklahoma where he instructed citizens of the new Russian Federation on privatization and the transition to a market economy. He obtained his doctorate in geography from the University of Oklahoma in 1998. Prior to commencing his teaching career at the University of Oklahoma, he was Vice-President of Marketing at Whistler Ski resort, Canada, home of the 2010 Winter Olympics, Executive Director of the Banff-Lake Louise Chamber of Commerce and a tourism marketing executive with the Government of Alberta. His current research interests are in biogeography, particularly the role of national parks in the conservation of large feline predators and the use of tourism as a conservation tool in parks. He has also published extensively and spoken widely on the geography of Floriculture. In total he has travelled in over 115 countries and seen the national parks, botanic gardens and other private reserves in just about them all.

Registration is open online or by calling the library’s Reference Department at 860-652-7720.

To watch from home on Zoom, registration is not required. Click here at the start of the program. Meeting ID: 896 8521 7591  |  Passcode: 523418

*In the event of inclement weather, this program will be held virtually via Zoom*