Podcast

PODCAST | AAAS 2018 Live: Forest Canopy, Non-Traditional Researchers & More

Hear an ecologist’s advice on how can you bring your science to groups outside of academia, and how her search for clothes that feature nature images inspired her to launch a botanically correct clothing line.
Holly Summers
Nalini Nadkarni

In this episode Dr. Holly Summers, a plant biologist and current AAAS Science and Technology Policy Fellow at the US Department of Agriculture, speaks with Dr. Nalini Nadkarni, an ecologist at the University of Utah. Dr. Nadkarni begins with the story of how she became interested in the forest canopy, and the delicate nature and importance of the canopy to a healthy tropical forest.  They also discuss how her work has helped to inspire and develop non-traditional community outreach programs working with prison inmates, allowing inmates to contribute to the scientific process through meticulous restoration work involving plant and animal life. Last and probably most unexpectedly, Dr. Nadkarni describes how she got inspired to launch a line of clothing that features botanically correct images of nature.

Participants

Host: Holly Summers, Ph.D., Plant Biology2017-2018Executive Branch Fellow at the USDA

Nalini Nadkarni, Ph.D., Ecology; Professor of Biology, University of Utah

Executive Producer

Carlos Faraco, Ph.D., Neuroscience2016-2018 Executive Branch Fellow at the National Institutes of Justice

Image: Sybil Gotsch 

Disclaimer

This blog does not necessarily reflect the views of AAAS, its Council, Board of Directors, officers, or members. AAAS is not responsible for the accuracy of this material. AAAS has made this material available as a public service, but this does not constitute endorsement by the association.

Tags

Podcast
Ecology
Entrepreneurship
Citizen Science
Forest Canopy

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Authors

Holly Summers

Summers, Holly: Fellowship 2017-2018 Summers, Holly: Fellowship 2018-2019
Holly Summers is a plant biologist with an interdisciplinary background in pollination biology. Her graduate work at Cornell focused on the interface of plant mating systems and plant/insect interactions through studies of floral development and scent. This research led to a postdoctoral position at the Institute for Plant Sciences at the University of Bern, Switzerland, where she studied Petunia floral development and pollinator-driven speciation. She is currently placed with the USDA Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, Biotechnology Regulatory Services. Her work with BRS focuses on international collaboration, risk assessment, and regulatory process development.