http://pecan.ipmpipe.org/pest_profiles/

I arrived at College Station Texas, the home of Texas A&M, on Sunday. The coming week would be filled with students and teachers all learning about plants...]]>

I arrived at College Station Texas, the home of Texas A&M, on Sunday. The coming week would be filled with students and teachers all learning about plants. In particular this year the topic would be medicinal plants. Yes that would be plants that can help keep us healthy or used to treat us when we are sick.

I was here last year for a similar workshop, but this year we all wanted to not only get lots of questions answered by the students, but also to get them to do some blogging, podcasting, or film making.

One of the treats of the week was meeting Flora Delaterre - plant detective. As they would say in a cheesy old detective novel – her beat is medicinal plants. She has a radio show that is carried by stations around the country as well as a Web site (http://floradelaterre.com) where she talks about plants from around the world. Flora and I had a great time talking with the students. Later I sat down with Flora (a.k.a. Beth Judy) and the students to interview her for the Ask A Biologist audio podcast program. It should be out later this week so check it out on the Ask A Biologist Web site, or iTunesU (July 20, 2009 – http://askabiologist.asu.edu/podcasts).

I never saw a book so large

Tagging along with the students for a couple of the field trips I was able to see and learn about some pretty cool things. While visiting the Cushing Library at Texas A&M I saw an old book that was half as tall as I am and the curator of the library said there are some books that are as tall as a person. You would not believe how cool it was to be able to sit in front of these really old books.

Two examples of the rare books in the Cushing Library. Besides seeing some amazing books, it is also interesting to note that these books are all made of paper which is a plant product. So you have some great herbal books that talk about medicinal herbal remedies printed on plant materials. You get the idea – plants are really important. For an inside and close-up view of paper visit another fun Web site called the Paper Project. (http://paperproject.org) A trip to the Paper Project will take you on a journey into the very heart and fibers of papers. Put on a pair of 3D glasses to really experience this amazing world.

Ivan and Jailene wearing 3D glasses from the Paper Project

Now I know why they call them hot houses

On another field trip I saw and smelled some amazing plants. Some we could eat and some could be used for herbal medicines. It was during a visit to the greenhouse at Texas A&M. The plants were cool but the greenhouse was hot and humid. I loved the plants, but I am not sure I would want to work there. I think I would like to be in a cooler place – like the Cushing Library. I also liked meeting the in-house cats that keep the animals from eating the plants. I heard that even raccoons can get into the greenhouse and cause lots of problems.

One of the cats is named Buffy because he is buff-colored. Buffy is so friendly he sometimes walks from the greenhouse and into the computer building next door for a visit. He does it so often the greenhouse keeper gets a phone call letting them know they have Buffy. Notice that Buffy has a blue tag with his phone number so those who find him can get him back to the green house and back on the job of mousing and roach hunting.

Teachers turned on to Podcasting

This year I had a chance to talk with the teachers about podcasting and how they could use it in their classroom. We had an informal workshop where we talked about using podcasts like Ask A Biologist as a learning tool and also how to make their own podcasts. I gave a brief training session on Audacity, the free audio editing software. With this short session I think a lot of the teachers could begin to build their own podcasts. We  also talked about a great resource for music that can be used free for non commercial podcasts – Magnatues (http://magnatunes.com)

Lots of great questions

The students all had great questions and have created some very cool blogs. Some will have videos embedded into them soon and one, Zulean, produced two wonderful audio interviews with local scientists. You can visit her blog, or listen to them below.

The link to Zulean’s interview with professor Micky Eubanks of Texas A&M.

zulean_interview_micky_eubanks2

The link to Zulean’s interview with scientist Lori Hinze of the USDA Cotton Lab.

zulean_interview_usda_lori_hinze1

All good things must come to an end

The week has come and gone. I really want to hear from the teachers. Mostly I want to hear their voice on their own podcasts. Now I am back in sunny Arizona. I also hope to see some more blog entries from the students and I especially want to see the videos online soon.

Many thanks to the Claire, Ethel, Toni, and the entire Texas A&M group for inviting me to participate. It is always an experience to remember.

Dr. Biology

What’s myPlantIT?            

In the summer of my freshman year I came to this camp at A&M called myPlantIT. My mom told me that it was mainly about biology and plants...]]>

What’s myPlantIT?            

In the summer of my freshman year I came to this camp at A&M called myPlantIT. My mom told me that it was mainly about biology and plants. Imyself am not so interested in plants and those types of things, not at all, but she knew I would try it, and plus it would be a new experience! When I started to read more about the camp I realized I didn’t really know much about biology and plant, and the camp sounded pretty interesting too! I thought, what the heck. When I got a letter saying I got accepted I was delighted! I spent a whole week at the camp learning about Chia seeds, DNA of a plant, and also technology!

On one of the days we were at the camp we went to the USDA building. Here Dr. Lori Hinze showed us how they would find the DNA of plants, and what she would do in the fields to research what information they needed. Dr. Hinze even showed us how we could look at our DNA! In a disposable test tube we put our spit, soap, and alcohol; gave it a shake and there it was, our DNA! It looked like white mucus! Very gross but very cool! The field trip was very fun and I was so interested that I wanted to give Dr. Hinze an interview.

zulean_interview_usda_lori_hinze

In the camp there were lots of classes. One of the classes was with 3 different people; they all had totally different jobs but dealt with plants. One of the workers was Micky Eubanks. He’s an Entomology professor, but also a researcher. In the summers he goes to Argentina and researches all summer long until it’s autumn and he starts to teach again. I liked how his job allows him to travel a lot so I gave him an interview!

zulean_interview_micky_eubanks1

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Dr. Biology introduces the directions for posting your podcast on the Plant IT Blog...]]>     

   dr_bio_intro

Dr. Biology introduces the directions for posting your podcast on the Plant IT Blog.

Adding your own podcast to the My Plant IT site:

1. Go to http://myplantit.org/blog and log in

2. Click on Write Post under the title Admin in the right column

3. Under Title add today’s date, the blog topic, and your name(s)

Then add a short description under Post.

4. Click on the circular symbol after Add media to load your podcast.

5. Click on Choose files to upload.

6. Select your podcast file from the computer.

7. Click on Insert into Post.

8. Change the status to Published in the pull down menu on the right.

9. Check your post for spacing, spelling, and accuracy. Edit as you wish.

10. Then click on Save.

11. Click on View this Post or Blog to see your podcast!

Adding images to your blog post

1. Select your post from the blog and click on Edit Post under Admin.

2. Click on the square symbol following Add media to upload an image.

3. Click on Choose files to upload.

4. Select the image you want from the computer.

5. Choose either Left, Center, or Right near the bottom of the page and then Insert into Post.

6. Select Save on the right side of the page.

How do monarch butterflies interact with a purple coneflower besides stopping by to sip the nectar? 

In this podcast Professor Ron Rutowski talks to Dr. Biology about the role of butterflies in the ecosystem...]]>

How do monarch butterflies interact with a purple coneflower besides stopping by to sip the nectar? 

In this podcast Professor Ron Rutowski talks to Dr. Biology about the role of butterflies in the ecosystem. Re-posted here with the generous permission of Dr. Biology himself!

To learn more, see:  http://askabiologist.asu.edu/index.html