Ep. 136 - Uncovering Antarctica's Forested Past

November 26, 2017

It may be hard to believe but Antarctica has a green past. Throughout its history, our southern polar continent has been the home to a variety of now-extinct biomes and my guest today is responsible for uncovering the oldest of these remains. Dr. Erik Gulbranson is part paleoecologist and part paleoclimatologist and what he and his collaborators are learning from these fossilized ecosystems not only helps us understand how life responded to climate change in the past, but also how it may respond in the future. This is one you don't want to miss! This episode was produced in part by Brian, Mark, Rens, Bendix, Irene, Holly, Clifton, Shane, Caitilin, Rosanna, Mary Jane, Manuel, Jennifer, Sara, Sienna & Garth, Troy, Margie, and Laura.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Gulbranson's work

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Ep. 134 - Growing Gondwana Relicts

November 12, 2017

Join me and my guest Robbie Blackhall-Miles as we discuss his love and passion for growing the remains of a flora whose lineage arose many millions of years ago. Robbie is an expert horticulturist whose work centers around conserving biodiversity in hopes of buffering our world against the 6th mass extinction. Robbie is especially interested in members of the family Proteaceae but plenty of other plants factor into this as well. As Robbie so eloquently put it, "If humanity has a future then that future lies in the ands of people that know about plants." This episode was produced in part by Rens, Bendix, Irene, Holly, Clifton, Shane, Caitilin, Rosanna, Mary Jane, Manuel, Jennifer, Sara, Sienna & Garth, Troy, Margie, and Laura.

Click here to learn more about Robbie's work and to donate

Click here to learn more about Robbie

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Ep. 132 - The Oak Origin Story And What It Means For Conservation

October 29, 2017

Who doesn't love oaks? This episode is all about their evolutionary origins. Joining us is a powerhouse team of scientists - Dr. Jeannine Cavender-Bares, Dr. Andrew Hipp, and Dr. Paul Manos - whose work has changed the oak origin story in a very interesting way. We also discuss what this means for oak conservation around the globe. If you love oaks, this is one episode you don't want to miss! This episode was produced in part by Allan, Irene, Clifton, Sebastian, Holly, Katherina, Shane, Amy, Caitlin, Rosanna, Mary Jane, Jennifer, Sarah, Christopher, Sienna & Garth, Troy, Margie, Laura, and Mark.

Check out the paper by clicking here!

Learn about the work of Dr. Jeannine Cavender-Bares

Learn about the work of Dr. Andrew Hipp

Learn about the work of Dr. Paul Manos

Watch our oak video!

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Ep. 124 - Darwin's Backyard

September 3, 2017

Few may realize just how important plants were to the great Charles Darwin. Luckily, Dr. James Costa is bringing Darwin's botanical interests to the forefront with his latest book, "Darwin's Backyard: How Small Experiments Led to a Big Theory." As if this book wasn't exciting enough, each chapter concludes with DIY instructions on how you and your friends and family can replicate some of Darwin's experiments in your own backyard. This is one conversation you don't want to miss! This episode was produced in part by Allan, Clifton, Katherina, Shane, Amy, Caitlin, Rosanna, Mary Jane, Jennifer, Sarah, Christopher, Sienna & Garth, Troy, Margie, Laura, and Mark.

Click here to order your own copy of Darwin's Backyard

Click here to learn more about Dr. Costa's work

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Ep. 119 - Plant Architecture

July 30, 2017

Our guest today is Dr. Karl Niklas. His work utilizes mathematics to explain plant growth and form in relation to four basic physical constraints: 1) Plants have to capture sunlight and avoid shading their own leaves, 2) Plants have to support themselves structurally, 3) Plants have to conduct water to their various tissues, and 4) Plants must be able to reproduce effectively. Using these basic constraints, Dr. Niklas builds mathematical simulations of plant evolution. Join us for a fascinating dive into the biophysical world of plant evolution. This episode was produced in part by Allan, Shane, Amy, Caitlin, Rosanna, Daniel, Mary Jane, Manuel, Jennifer, Sara, Christopher, Sienna and Garth, Margie, Laura, and Mark.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Niklas' work

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Ep. 103 - The Trout Lily Project

April 9, 2017

Calling all citizen scientists! The Trout Lilt Project needs your help! Joining us today is Dr. Emily Austen, a post doc at the University of Ottawa. You may remember Dr. Austen from episode 52 where we discussed her work on the evolution of flowering plants. Shes back today to give us updates on the results of 2016's citizen science reporting as well as to call for more citizen scientists to help with the project. This episode was produced in part by Mark, Allen, Desiree, Sienna & Garth, Laura, Margie, Troy, Bryan, Sara, Jennifer, Christopher, Manuel, Daniel, John, Rosanna, and Mary Jane.

Click here to get involved!

Click here to learn more about Dr. Austen's work

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Ep. 79 - A Lifetime With Orchids

October 23, 2016

Today we are joined by Tom Mirenda. Tom has the unique position of Orchid Collections Specialist for the Smithsonian Institute. At somewhere around 8,000 plants, this is no small task. He has spent his life loving and caring for orchids and when he is not doing that, he is busy lecturing and writing about them. This is a wonderful case in which a passionate hobby has turned into an illustrious career centered around these incredible organisms. This episode was produced in part by Gregory, Mark, Bryan, Laura, Margie, and Allan.

Click here to learn more about Tom's work

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Ep. 75 - The Question Show!

September 25, 2016

It's here! The long awaited question show has arrived. Over the last few weeks listeners have been submitting their botanical questions for me to answer. I got some great questions and it was really fun doing the research in hope of providing satisfactory answers. I cover a lot of cool topics from leaf color to carnivorous plants and even some phylogenetics. This was a really fun episode to record. I learned a lot in the process and I hope you will too! This episode was produced in part by Gregory, Mark, Bryan, and Laura.

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Ep. 61 - Building the Angiosperm Tree of Life

June 19, 2016

If you have paid attention to flowering plant taxonomy over the last few decades you have undoubtedly come across the work of Dr.'s Pam and Doug Soltis. Evolutionary geneticists by training, these two have devoted their lives to figuring out the relationships between the world's flowering plants. This is no small task and the collaborative effort put forth is both astounding and inspiring.Their early efforts to tackle such relationships led to the birth of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group (APG), which is now in its 4th iteration. Throughout their career, the Soltis Lab has been on the forefront of technological advances in genetics and conservation. Their work goes beyond theory and tackles difficult questions of not only what it means to be a species but also how to conserve plants in an age of accelerated climate change. This is one conversation you don't want to miss!

Click here to learn more about the Soltis Lab

Click here to watch Doug's TED Talk

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Ep. 55 - For the Love of Ferns

May 8, 2016

Who doesn't love ferns? After all, they represent one of the oldest lineages of plants on our planet. Far from being lowly curiosities living out their lives in the shade of their flowering cousins, ferns are incredibly complex organisms with astounding diversity. Dr. Carl Rothfels joins us for a fascinating discussion about ferns and their evolution. This is one conversation you don't want to miss. This episode was produced in part by Allan and Gregory.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Rothfels work.

Click here to watch spore catapults in action!

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Ep. 54 - Megafaunal Dispersal Syndrome feat. Ryan from Science... sort of

April 30, 2016

What could be cooler than an evolutionary anachronism? It is fun to think about all of the plants on this planet that once shared their habitats with now extinct megafauna like giant ground sloths, mammoths, and gomphotheres. Well, there is a school of thought that at least some plants entered into an evolutionary relationship with these large mammals. This is especially true in the context of seed dispersal. The extinction of these animals at the end of the Pleistocene left some of these plants without seed dispersers. Their large fruits now go undispersed, often left to rot in the shade of their parent. To talk about this in more detail, (paleo)ecologist and host of the Science... sort of podcast, Ryan Haupt, for a fascinating discussion on where this theory came from and where it stands now. You may be surprised at some of the plants we talk about. This is part of a super fun crossover podcast (check out episode 241 of the Science... sort of podcast to hear me get interviewed by some of the Science... sort of team).

Click here to check out Science... sort of

Click here to learn more about Ryan's research

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Ep. 52 - Flower Phenology: A Story of Tradeoffs

April 17, 2016

Being sessile organisms, plants have to be able to cope with changes in their environment in unique ways. One of the major challenges plants face is knowing when to flower. Whereas some species stick to steadfast schedules, others have evolved some flexibility to cope with their stochastic surroundings. Dr. Emily Austen is interested in the evolution and maintenance of flowering strategies. She is also undertaking a fascinating citizen science project involving trout lily pollen color. With spring well underway, this is a timely episode you won't want to miss.

Click here to find out more about how you can get involved with Dr. Austen's trout lily research.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Austen's work.

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Ep. 47 - Pollinators and Parentage

March 12, 2016

I have always thought of pollination as rather straight forward - a pollinator visits a plant, picks up pollen, and deposits that pollen on its next visit. As it turns out, it's not that simple. To find out more about the complexities of pollination, I called up Dr. Randy Mitchell from the University of Akron in Ohio. His research is going to blow your mind. What to us seems like the perfect mutualism turns out to be more like a dark alley transaction in which each party is trying to get as much from the other without giving too much in return. This episode was produced in part by Allan Pisula of Kinosha, Wisconsin.

Click here to find out more about Dr. Mitchell's research.

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Ep. 45 - Cycads

February 28, 2016

Who doesn't love cycads? I know I do and can you really blame me? The cycads are an incredible group of plants. They are also quite ancient. Arising long before flowering plants, this lineage has survived munching dinosaurs, continental drift, and mass extinctions and has undergone incredible adaptive radiations. Today cycads are in trouble. Habitat destruction and poaching now threaten many of the world's species. To get to know cycads a bit better I reached out to one of the world experts on this group of plants, Dr. Dennis Stevenson of the New York Botanical Garden. Dr. Stevenson has traveled the world to study and describe new species of cycad. He has been on every major continent and has encountered nearly every species in the wild. His work has helped us better understand the enigmatic and ancient group. Join us for a fascinating discussion about the cycads.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Stevenson's work

Click here to watch another great interview with Dr. Stevenson

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Ep. 41 - Orchid Sex

January 31, 2016

The orchid family is the most diverse plant family on the planet. Much of this diversity is driven by intricate and often highly specific relationships with their pollinators. My friend and fellow orchid fanatic Tierney Rosenstock joins us this week to talk to us about how a deep fascination with orchids turned into some pretty awesome research. Her work on the reproductive ecology of the pink lady slipper orchid reveals interesting evolutionary relationships and a need to understand the ecosystem beyond just your study organisms.

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Ep. 31 - Exploring Plant Diversity

October 15, 2015

What is a species? Why does it matter and what can we do with that information? What drives the patterns of plant diversity we see around the world? These are just some of the questions Dr. Iván Jiménez likes to investigate. Join me for an interesting conversation exploring plant richness.

Click here to learn more about Dr. Iván Jiménez

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Ep. 8 - Chara, A Model Organism

February 28, 2015

Chara represent the earliest stages of true plant evolution. They are also model organisms for a wide variety of research questions. Join me for an intriguing discussion with Dr. Mary Bisson from the University at Buffalo.

Dr. Bisson's website

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Ep. 4 - Invasive Species: A Refreshing Take

January 31, 2015

Community ecologist Dr. Robert Warren joins us from SUNY Buffalo State for an interesting discussion on invasive plant species. Learn about the challenges of this type of research, rapid evolution, and Eltonian noise. This is a refreshing departure from the normal when it comes to invasive species discussions.

Dr. Warren's Website

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