Plant of the Month: Heliconia
Heliconias can distinguish among pollinators like hummingbirds and respond selectively to their visits.
Migrating Birds Face an Unexpected Danger: Glass Buildings
Research shows that building collisions take a staggering annual toll on North America's bird population.
The Scientist Who Wanted Grizzly Bears Eliminated
In the late 1960s, two highly visible deaths from grizzly bear attacks led to a debate about whether humans and bears could coexist.
Ynés Mexía: Botanical Trailblazer
This Mexican-American botanist fought against the harshness of both nature and society to follow her passion for plant collecting.
The Unsung Heroine of Lichenology
Elke Mackenzie’s moments of self-citation illuminate the hopes of someone who, against ease and tradition, did not wish to separate her identity from her research.
Plant of the Month: Dittany
Did women in the premodern world have much agency over reproduction? Their use of plants like dittany suggests that they did.
iNaturalist and Crowdsourcing Natural History
The citizen-science app iNaturalist lets you record observations of plants and animals. The data can be used to study biodiversity.
Freshwater Fish of Virginia
Roanoke College's Ichthyological Collection of over 800 freshwater fish documents the biodiversity we're losing at an alarming rate.
Corn Is Everywhere!
Two educators use the history of corn, from the domestication of maize 10,000 years ago to today's ubiquitous "commodity corn," to teach about biodiversity.
Plant of the Month: Guava
Often classified as an invasive species, guava ignites a longstanding, transnational battle over foreign invaders and local customs.