Cultivating curiosity and the next generation of plant scientists

What motivates you to devote time to outreach work? 

Anna Stepanova:  "I think sometimes people may be plant-blind. We’re on the move, driving by in our cars, and because plants are sessile (rooted in place), we tend to not notice them. Our hope is that we can get the younger generation and adults excited about what plants do for us and hopefully convince people to pay attention. I know that people who do gardening love their plants, but this is a smaller community. People who live in cities walk by trees and they may take it for granted, right? They don’t think about the fact that the trees are purifying the air for them or providing shade."

"People like Terri and me, we’re scientists, and one of our missions is to educate others and to make the work that we do more accessible to the public so that regular folks understand why tax dollars are being invested into basic research. Terri works on iron deficiency in plants. I work on plant hormones and plant development. So why is it important to study those areas? Why are we getting large grants for our research? We want to make it accessible so that people understand and appreciate why our work is necessary."

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