What’s with all this grass? Why do we bother mowing them down over and over in a Sisyphean ritual? Whose idea was this?
I sat down with botanist plant ecologist and conservation scientist Jessa Finch to get some answers.
Listen HERE or wherever you get your podcasts!
Jessamine Finch is a Research Botanist at Native Plant Trust and manages the Seed Bank of the New England Plant Conservation Program (NEPCoP) at Garden in the Woods. Jessamine believes that biological conservation is not only a logical and moral imperative, but also that nurturing relationships between people and nature are core to meeting our conservation goals. In addition to supporting NEPCoP and managing ~2,000 seed collections of >400 rare taxa, she designs and executes applied plant conservation research projects and teaches courses on botany, genetics, and ecology. Jessamine has been working in public gardens for over a decade, gaining broad experience in horticulture, natural areas management, curation, education, and research. Her research interests focus on the intersection of seed ecology, land management, and climate change. Jessamine holds a BA in Biological Sciences from Smith College and a PhD in Plant Biology and Conservation from Northwestern University and Chicago Botanic Garden. Research interests: Plant conservation, seed ecology, restoration, climate change, population genetics
Episode Bibliography:
A worldwide phylogenetic classification of the Poaceae (Gramineae)
More Sustainable (and Beautiful) Alternatives to a Grass Lawn
BONUS EPISODE ALERT! I spoke to Jessa about tons of other fascinating questions that I received from listeners and friends like - how do vines know to grow in specific directions? Do plants feel pain? Do they like music? Keep an eye out for it on your feed!
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Episode recorded, mixed and produced by Kate Douglas
Theme song is by Matthew Dean Marsh