An Ecosystem of Support The resource dedication it takes to get to Antarctica is immense. It is too enormous for one badass botanist to handle alone, but with my whole ecosystem in support, I can achieve this goal and research, learn, and collaborate for global good in the Antarctic. If you want to take action …
What Does A Botanist Have To Do In Antarctica? Equitable Leadership and Critical Botany I believe that plants can change the world. While in Antarctica I will study two native vascular plant species — Colobanthus quitensis and Deschampsia antarctica, pictured below — in addition to hundreds of mosses and lichen. To harness their power for global betterment, …
Help Samantha Elie Botanist get to the Antarctic Contribute now! The Invitation I have been selected for the ice-breaking opportunity to voyage on an Antarctic expedition with high-ranking women in STEMM* leadership. This mission is greater than myself. As an early-career botanist, I cannot simply reach into investments, large savings, or wealthy inner network …
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The Homeward Bound Project (HB) is a leadership initiative that aims to increase the influence and impact of women in decision-making to shape our planet. Each year HB selects 100 remarkable women from STEMM* fields around the world to join this program that improves and draws attention to the systemic lack of gender equity in …
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I believe that plants can change the world. I research the illuminating relationships that native plants maintain between their ecosystem, climate, and people. The ecosystem services that plants provide can be strategically implemented to alleviate the effects of climate change and solve other wicked problems. We can filter air and water, stabilize coastlines, regrow with …
Be Kind To Humankind 2021 Highlight Be Kind To Humankind (BK2HK) week is an annual invitation to strengthen your community by sharing joy and caring for the collective. To celebrate, I am highlighting a small business in Olympia, WA that is spreading kindness beyond their walls and into the world. I had many to choose …
The Untapped Intelligence of Native Plants Back it up: How are plants intelligent? Intelligence is the ability to acquire and strategically apply information. Plants read changes in their communities and respond to suit their needs. They adapt, migrate, and rely on long-term relationships to pull through hard times. You can see plant intelligence in action next …
What is a Native Plant? Native plants belong where everyone knows their name. Be glad yours remain. A native plant is one that has grown within a specific area for hundreds or thousands of years. Over that time, they developed life-sustaining relationships with one another, animals, fungi, microbes, and the non-living landscape. Every native organism …
Plants Can Change The World Plants are extraordinary superheroes: they provide a multitude of tremendous services without asking for much in return. For starters, plants supply us with the basic requirements of life (food, oxygen, and shelter), but they also enrich our lives in unnoticed ways. The daily tasks that plants perform are called ecosystem services, …