Entries by Mary Williams

Greening the classroom: Acitivities from ABRC

The Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center (ABRC) has developed numerous investigative activities using Arabidopsis. Most of the activities are suitable for high school or college level students. You can order seeds (usually free to educators) and download teaching guides from the Education and Outreach page. Detailed protocols and helpful videos are also available for each module. […]

Wisconsin Fast Plants

Instructions for activities using brassica, suitable for students of all ages. Through activities spanning the life cycle of Wisconsin Fast Plants®, you and your students can explore many aspects of plant growth and development and reproduction. In its 35 – 45 day life cycle, the Wisconsin Fast Plant rapidly passes through all the life stages […]

Educational videos for plant biology: TED, iBiology and Gatsby Plants Summer School

We’ve assembled a collection of relatively accessible talks by scientists. These include: TED talks, which are directed at a general audience, the iBiology series, where speakers deliver a general talk followed by a research-focused talk, and videos of lectures at the Gatsby Plants summer school for undergraduate students. Most of these talks would be suitable […]

Career Planning for Research Bioscientists by Sarah Blackford

“Career Planning for Research Bioscientists” is an excellent resource for anyone who is pursuing a scientific career. Written by Sarah Blackford, head of Education and Public Affairs at the Society for Experimental Biology, it provides checksheets, case studies, sample CVs, interview tips and guides to help you identify and get your next position, and the […]

Photodamaged Chloroplasts Are Targets of Cellular Garbage Disposal

IN BRIEF by Gregory Bertoni gbertoni@aspb.org Autophagy, or “self eating,” is the process cells use to consume unwanted intracellular structures such as damaged organelles, excess membranes, and unneeded cellular proteins (Mizushima and Komatsu, 2011). Typically, the unwanted structure becomes surrounded by an autophagosomal membrane, which then fuses with the membrane of either the vacuole (yeast […]

Ecosystem restoration strengthens pollination network resilience and function ($)

How does ecosystem restoration affect ecosystem services such as pollination? Kaiser-Bunbury et al. analysed 64 plant-pollinator networks across four restored and four unrestored communities. Restoration involved the removal of all exotic plants (nearly 40,000 individuals). After restoration, over a period of several months, they recorded pollinator-plant interactions: a total of more than 12,000 pollinator visits. […]