My students and I are generlly excited to share our knowledge of plants and science. Outside of academia, communication is critical; we are advocates for science literacy in younger students.

 

I am a big fan of PlantingScience, a program run by the Botanical Society of America which matches scientists with middle and high school classrooms who are learning about photosynthesis, seed germination, or factors that affect plant growth. Mentors (like myself) ‘meet’ on a common website and I help to guide students as they develop hypotheses and conduct experiments. I have also led classroom discussions more generally through Skype a Scientist. 

 

Some of my favorite events are working with elementary and middle school teachers and students during National Lab Day events, where we extract DNA from fruit. Other times, I have developed modules for tree and shrub identification guides for elementary students, led a seed workshop as a part of TechSavvy, or give tours of our facilities here at SCSU.

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Here are some other cool things and links you can follow to learn more:

• Along with my colleague Dr. Matt Julius at SCSU, I was interviewed for the local newspaper here in St. Cloud MN to discuss how climate change might change the Christmas tree farms and the industry in Minnesota. Read out the article in the SC Times that resulted from our conversation here.

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• Chris Martine and I were interviewed in two segments, to cover a species we described, Solanum plastisexum, from the Northern Territory of Australia. First, we talked a little about the plant and the process of describing new species. The second part covered upcoming episodes "Plants are cool, too!". We also touched on diversity in science education and the importance of science communication a bit. The photo above is us in the 'booth', pre-interview! Check out the sunrise show on AM radio station WKOK from Sunbury, PA from April 23, 2019 here.

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• I was invited to give a presentation about how to successfully present your research, aimed mostly at new grad students. It offered me a chance to reflect and think a lot about all the things I do when I need to effectively communicate about my research AND manage myself before/during/after giving a talk. Dr. Bill Hammond organized the event for the Botany Graduate Student Organization. You can find the slides for my presentation here.

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• A new species from Texas that I described with Mark Fishbein a part of the OSU College of Arts and Sciences' magazine. They did a great job highlighting the importance of biodiversity discovery and new species description. It also features the OSU herbarium!

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• Matt Candeias (brains/host/plant geek behind the In Defense of Plants podcast) asked me if I would be interested in chatting with him about milkweeds on his show! We chatted for a bit about my career path and how I got involved in milkweed research as well as some of the specifics about my dissertation. Listen to Episode 145, Obscure Apocynaceae Appreciation here.