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PODCAST

Plant Kingdom

Catherine Polcz

Plant Kingdom is a conversation series about plants, nature and environment featuring scientists, artists, researchers, writers and healers.We release two conversations each month, and hear from people who have an intimacy with plants and nature. We discuss their work, stories and reflections from the field.We record in Sydney, Australia on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora nation, and pay respect to their elders - past, present and future.Hosted and produced by Catherine Polcz. Our music

science natural sciences

All Episodes

42:09

14 Luke Steller: Primordial soup

Plant Kingdom ·

2024/10/22

Astrobiologist and science communicator Dr Luke Steller journeys deep into the primordial soup to discuss the enigma of Earth’s first life. In our conversation, we discuss what early life could have looked like 3 billion years ago, how scientists read the fossil and rock record, and what life might look like elsewhere in our universe.Bio:Dr. Luke Steller is a researcher in the field of astrobiology, the study of how life began on Earth and where it might exist elsewhere in the universe. His research

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46:07

13 Eddie Game: Ecoacoustics

Plant Kingdom ·

2024/09/30

Dr Eddie Game is the Lead Scientist & Director of Conservation for The Nature Conservancy’s Asia Pacific region. In our conversation, he discusses conservation as a collaboration with community, and his pioneering works into acoustic ecology – the study of the biology of natural soundscapes. He shares his field work in Papua New Guinea and Borneo, what a healthy jungle sounds like, and what it’s like waking up to the calls of gibbons.Bio:Eddie Game is the Lead Scientist & Director of

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48:28

12 Jenny Mortimer: Plants in space

Plant Kingdom ·

2024/09/02

Associate Professor Dr Jenny Mortimer discusses plants as a technology, and how she applies genetic engineering as a tool to solve wicked problems of sustainability in agricultural and pharmaceutical production. Her lab uses synthetic biology to develop new crops in controlled growth environments – including plants for space settlement as part of the newly formed ARC Centre of Excellence in Plants for Space.BIO:Jenny Mortimer is Associate Professor of Plant Synthetic Biology in the School of

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39:42

11 Sharon Robinson: Antarctic moss

Plant Kingdom ·

2024/08/12

Climate change biologist Dr Sharon Robinson takes us thousands of kilometres across the Southern Ocean to Casey Station, Antarctica. She is an expert on Antarctica’s ancient moss beds, which she describes as ‘miniature old growth forests’. In our conversation, we spoke about the adaptations that enable moss to thrive in some of the harshest environments on earth, and the impact of historic ozone depletion and climate change on these fragile ecosystems.Bio:Dr Sharon Robinson is a Climate Change

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69:10

10 Jon Pitt: Becoming botanical

Plant Kingdom ·

2024/07/01

Translator, author and academic Dr Jon Pitt discusses his work in critical plant studies and the representation of plants throughout Japanese literature and media. He shares the joys of his recent translation of the work Tree Spirits Grass Spirits by acclaimed Japanese poet Hiromi Ito, and delves into what we can gain from becoming botanical – or thinking like a plant.Bio:Jon L Pitt is Assistant Professor of Japanese Environmental Humanities at the University of California, Irvine. He situates his

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53:47

09 Åsa Krüger: Gothenburg Botaniska

Plant Kingdom ·

2024/06/17

Botanist and curator Åsa Krüger discusses her practice in connecting audiences with plants and shares behind the scenes stories from the Gothenburg Botanical Garden, Sweden. Investigating the role of botanical gardens in the modern world, she shares how the living collection is engaged in active research and conservation, and the importance of putting names to the living world around us.Bio:Dr Åsa Krüger is a curator at the Gothenburg Botanical Garden, Sweden. During her PhD, Åsa studied the

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53:48

08 Karlie Noon: The sky is full of knowledge

Plant Kingdom ·

2024/06/03

Gamilaroi astrophysicist Karlie Noon dismantles sketchy ambitions to colonize the moon, asteroids and space. Grounded in indigenous sky sovereignty, she presents another way of knowing and caring for the solar system, Milky Way and universe. She shares her knowledge of moon formation, the growing discipline of space environmentalism, her research into the dynamics of the The Milky Way and all we can learn from Sky Country.Bio:Karlie Noon is a Gamilaroi astrophysicist and author with over a decade’s

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57:28

07 Grace Fleming: The enigma of seeds

Plant Kingdom ·

2024/05/20

Plant biologist Dr Grace Fleming dissects the secret life of seeds. In a conversation covering everything from seed vaults to space seed trials, she examines the mechanisms of seed dormancy and how seeds sense and interact with their environment.Bio:Dr Grace Fleming is an Assistant Professor in Plant Biology at Michigan State University in East Lansing. Her work examines the physiological underpinning of seed dormancy and responses to varying environmental conditions, with a high priority placed on

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44:50

06 Francine McCarthy: A lake in the Anthropocene

Plant Kingdom ·

2024/05/06

Micropaleontologist Dr Francine McCarthy goes deep into the sediments of Crawford Lake, a small and unassuming lake in the Niagara Escarpment town of Milton, Ontario. In 2023, Dr McCarthy led a team that identified Crawford Lake as the best location on earth that captured evidence of human caused planetary change. Endorsed by the Anthropocene Working Group, It was proposed as the best ‘golden spike’ site of the Anthropocene. Dr McCarthy shares how she first encountered the lake, her research on

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43:08

Nicole Yamase: The ocean is a mirror

Plant Kingdom ·

2024/04/22

Micronesian marine botanist and ocean advocate Dr Nicole Yamase meditates on the Pacific with a conversation spanning Hawaiian seaweeds, snorkelling across the Federated States of Micronesia and her submersible expedition to the Mariana trench. She generously shares her cultural perspective as a Micronesian scientist and discusses what lessons she’s learned from the sea.Bio:Dr. Nicole Yamase is from the islands of Pohnpei and Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Although she is from

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37:27

Jen Sanger: View from the big tree canopy

Plant Kingdom ·

2024/04/08

Forest ecologist Jen Sanger spends more time in big trees than most. In our conversation, she takes us into another world of canopy of Australia’s tallest trees and into Tasmania’s aptly named Grove of Giants. She shares the story of the evolution of the distinctive Tasmanian flora, the ecology of these special forests and the summer she helped get 500 community members nearly 100m up into the canopy.Bio:Dr Jennifer Sanger is the co-founder for The Tree Projects, a Tasmanian based an environmental

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60:25

Deatra Cohen and Adam Siegel: Unearthing Ashkenazi...

Plant Kingdom ·

2024/03/21

Partners in life and work, herbalist Deatra Cohen and reference librarian and researcher Adam Siegel are the authors of the incredible resource Ashkenazi Herbalism. Together they spent years researching little known texts, translating ethnobotanical surveys and cross-referencing cultural databases to unearth lost Ashkenazi plant practices from the pale of settlement region. They share the stories and traditions of a few of their favourite plants along with Deatra’s own journey to plant healing

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65:04

Ripley Whiteside: Depicting wonder

Plant Kingdom ·

2024/03/18

Tennessee-based artist Ripley Whiteside creates art as a way to explore and connect to nature, history and speculative ecological futures. In a wide-ranging conversation spanning, contemporary ecological thought, invasive species and an ancient Medieval text—the Augsburg Book of Miracles—the conversation looks at the mysterious constructs of our understanding of nature. His place-based work is inspired by time spent Montreal, North Carolina and his home in Tennessee.Bio:Ripley Whiteside was born in

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27:12

Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez: Urban forest explorations

Plant Kingdom ·

2024/03/18

Urban ecologist Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez in conversation with Catherine Polcz.He shares his journey from researching plant physiology in the Mexican Veracruz Montane Forests to future-proofing diverse urban forests of Western Sydney. His work is driven by understanding our relationship to the urban environment where people and plants are reliant on one another.Bio:Manuel Esperon-Rodriguez is a Sydney-based, Mexican ecologist who studies the effects of climate on plant function in urban ecosystems

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14 results

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