Ed Toth, Director of INSR Partner, Mid-Atlantic Regional Seed Bank and the Greenbelt Native Plant Center was Awarded the New York City Sloan Public Service Award.
Ed Toth, Director of INSR Partner, Mid-Atlantic Regional Seed Bank and the Greenbelt Native Plant Center
For nearly 40 years, the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has awarded New York City (NYC) employees its Sloan Public Service Award. Annually, this prestigious award recognizes six extraordinary civil servants for their outstanding work and commitment to the people of New York City. This year, Ed Toth, NYC Parks and Recreation Department and Director of INSR Partner, the Mid-Atlantic Regional Seed Bank and the Greenbelt Native Plant Center (GNPC), was honored with this award. Over 25 years, GNPC has grown more than 12.5 million native plants for restoration and conservation projects in NYC ecosystems. After Hurricane Sandy, GNPC replaced hundreds of thousands of plants on destroyed wetland and dunes. While working in Prospect Park Brooklyn in the 1990s, Mr. Toth helped lead the native plant movement in park restorations, but a key obstacle was that native plants were not available. By helping to create and then run GNPC, Mr. Toth created the first and largest municipal native plant nursery and seed bank anywhere in the U.S. In 2011, Mr. Toth founded MARSB, recognizing that to effectively respond to climate change and plant conservation challenges, a regional response was essential. Says a colleague, "He has made a huge difference in our world. He looks out for New Yorkers and the planet." --Fund for the City of New York and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation