Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium: Adopting Hortis to Manage Botanical Collections
- By Mary Ellen Amodeo
“With Hortis, we’re building something lasting. It’s going to help us show executive leadership how much the institution is accomplishing—what we’ve planted, where it is, and why it matters.” – Joe Williams, Curator, Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium
At the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium, plants are more than background, they’re essential to animal care, conservation, and the visitor experience. Now, with the adoption of Hortis by Species360, the zoo expects to transform how it manages its living plant collection. From tagging browse-safe species to mapping immersive habitats, this next-generation plant records system will help the horticulture team turn data into strategy, and strategy into stories.
“As curators, teams in our industry have tried it all, Excel, BG-BASE, even creating our own systems,” says Joe Williams, Curator of Horticulture and Grounds, who brings experience from other major institutions like Atlanta and Houston. “We realized that it’s not just about tracking plants, it’s about tracking the right way.”
Early in the implementation, Williams established 300 taxa and expects to ramp that up to 900 with incoming spring plants. The focus is on trees and large shrubs first, then the team will scale up from there.
The zoo’s horticulture and grounds departments work across many roles, from planting and maintenance to events and exhibit design. Unlike most public gardens, they also face the added complexities of animal safety, toxic plant avoidance, and animal browse.
“Our job is different from traditional horticulture. It’s animal culture, we need to understand toxicity, browse safety, and habitat simulation,” explains Williams. “Hortis is intuitive, and it reflects the way we work.”
One feature that stands out: tagging. The team plans to use Hortis’ tags and QR codes to flag trees that are endangered, native, or pollinator-friendly, and to mark browse-safe species for zookeepers. Visitors may soon be able to scan tags and explore Pittsburgh’s living collection through a new lens – turning plant records into conservation stories.
Planning for the future
To ensure the best animal care and visitor experience, the team designs and maps planting areas for visual impact, habitat simulation, and animal interaction. Pittsburgh Zoo and Aquarium will use Hortis to draft plant maps of key areas, including tropical displays for its Jungle Odyssey and Islands habitats, and even the zoo’s redesigned front entrance overlooking the Allegheny River.
“Mapping is going to be a game changer,” says Williams. “For example, we can tag Christmas palms and layer in the understory. When it comes time to report to city arborists or replace trees inch-for-inch, we’ll know exactly what’s been planted and where.”
Knowledge that stays
Turnover is a challenge in every institution. “When someone leaves, their files often go with them. You risk losing institutional knowledge,” Williams explains. “With Hortis, we’re building something lasting. It’s going to help us show executive leadership how much the institution is accomplishing, what we’ve planted, where it is, and why it matters.”
As President of the Association of Zoological Horticulture (AZH), Williams sees Hortis as a tool for elevating the role of horticulture in the zoo world. “Most zoos are already botanic gardens in function—we just haven’t had the tools or processes to accession and highlight our collections the way public gardens do. Hortis changes that.”
“There’s a handful of us that already share plant data informally,” Williams says. “With Hortis, it becomes easy to see what’s working in Atlanta or Houston, what native species are thriving, or how others simulate African habitats. We’re all plant geeks, and this is how we take it to the next level.”
About the Association of Zoological Horticulture (AZH)
AZH is a non-profit membership organization dedicated to the advancement of horticulture in zoos, zoological parks, botanic gardens, and aquariums.
The association works to highlight the importance of plants within zoos and aquariums, and seeks to support the horticulturists and gardeners who work in a zoological setting. It provides a support network for zoo and aquarium personnel without training or background in plant science, but find themselves performing the work.
Zoo horticulture encompasses a wide range of activities which requires a diversity of knowledge and skills in gardening, plant identification/selection, landscape development/management, plant/animal interactions, plant toxicity, animal browse production, etc. Just imagine a zoo without plants and you will agree, plants make the difference!
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