Climate change is a problem humanity is currently causing and facing. Along with the rest of life on Earth, including plants. 2017 was one of the hottest years on record. The arctic is our early warning of a potential future. Policy changes and action on climate are fundamentally selfish – it will maintain the conditions … More Telling stories of plants in a world of unchecked climate change.
Yes, some spoilers of Stranger Things, the popular Netflix series are enclosed within. If you don’t want to know, come back once you’ve watched. The Duffer Brother’s series Stranger Things has an eeriness to it, that there is something else to the world just beyond human perception. It took Eleven, a girl who is forced by the … More Welcome to The Real Upsidedown.
atI had the pleasure of attending Sci Comm Camp for a 2nd year. It made me think about communicating science generally, but also how to better relate plant science specifically. Amongst the sweet smell of false pepper trees (Schinus molle, Anacardiaceae) and stands of white bark-shedding eucalyptus trees (Eucalyptus sp., Myrtaceae), 80 or so science … More Plant the seeds of curiosity: Dispatch from Sci Comm Camp 2017
Humans are inspired by nature in all sorts of ways. A substantial part of that natural world is the plants surrounding us. Some common, most rare, and many found medicinally useful to humans. Even some “useless” plants like Arabidopsis, thale cress, a mustard weed, has contributed human health through its place as a research organism. … More The State of The World’s Medicinal Plants
One of the hats I’m wearing these days is as the resources editor for The Annals of Botany. As part of that, for Fascination of Plants Day (FoPD), we are launching Botany Live (#BotanyLive), a global event to celebrate plants starting May 18 and going through the weekend. Live broadcasts of plant scientists talking about plants for … More Botany Live
George Washington Carver was a lot more than peanuts. He was born a slave, in Missouri, during the American Civil War and died in the middle of World War II. In between, he was part of creating a more sustainable farming system, particularly for poor African American farmers in the South. Carver essentially had a … More George Washington Carver, Planter of Productive Farmers.
Letter to a farmer from a plant scientist sharing values we share and why scientists say the world is warming up and how that links to local experiences. … More To a Farmer From a Plant Scientist
Coffea arabica Genome We now know the genes of good coffee. The Coffea arabica (Arabica coffee) genome was released this month, announced at the annual Plant and Animal Genome conference XXV. Arabica coffee is consdiered better quality and is 70% of the world’s coffee. Several years ago, the simpler genome of Coffea canephora was sequenced (a.k.a. … More Inside The Coffee Bean
The Quiet Branches 