Engaging Students and the Public with Science

How to get your audiences to care as much as you do. You can explain your research with publication-worthy panache. So why don’t people outside of your niche seem to get jazzed about your topic? Maybe your presentation is upside down. Successfully engaging the public or students is much more – and less – than … Read more

Outreach is a Hybrid

What Transpires When Scientists Reach Out? Broader Impacts and Community Service – compatible outreach options Outreach matters. Good outreach advances science. Some folks conduct outreach through broader impact goals. Others get involved at the community level. What’s the difference? Where do you fit in? Broader Impacts Action Items: 1. Learn more about Broader Impacts from … Read more

World Champions Need Plant Biology

No grass? No Wimbledon, World Cup, worldwide golf or baseball According to SportsGrass.com, “sports and athletic field grasses must have dense, thick sod, be able to withstand impact and have the ability to repair quickly…Each seed mixture is used for the desired traits that are dominant to its variety and whether it grows well with … Read more

ASPB & White House Easter Egg Roll 2014

Because We’re Happy…about Plants “Hop into Healthy, Swing into Shape,” was the 2014 White House Easter Egg Roll theme designed to support the First Lady’s Let’s Move! initiative. The soundtrack for the healthy hubbub on the South Lawn was filled with cheering egg race fans, bouncing basketballs, the thrumming of busy, giggling kids –  all … Read more

Cultivating Safety

What do locks, alarms, TSA screenings, guard dogs, and plants have in common?  Each can deter danger.  Yes, you read that right. Plants can make stuff safer.  In fact, NOVA’s technology aficionado David Pogue explored cutting-edge examples of some leafy lifesavers in his PBS program, Making Stuff: Safer (airdate 11/6/13). So beyond thorns and prickly … Read more