The public is invited to the Earl G. Maxwell Arboretum on East Campus, Saturday, May 18 from 2–5 p.m. for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln 2019 Fascination of Plants Day.
“Fascination of Plants Day is a fun, family-appropriate event for anyone interested in plants, or for plant lovers to use to introduce their not-yet-plant-loving friends to the topic,” said Rebecca Roston, assistant professor of biochemistry and head of the Center for Plant Science Innovation Education and Outreach.
“We will have interactive tours, hands-on demonstrations and you will be able to interact with plant-focused researchers. Come and see the amazing research done at the university that helps make Nebraska farms strong, and on the cutting edge of plant research,” Roston said.
Activities include:
- Touch Plant Giveaway – learn how some plants react to your touch! And take one home with you.
- HOPS Research
- Plants that live on air
- Soybean-based feedstocks for aquaculture – ever wonder if a tomato is a fruit or vegetable? Find out at our fruit and vegetable investigation table.
- How roots sense gravity – how many microbes does it take to make a plant?
- Master Gardeners answering questions in the Backyard Farmer Garden.
- Interact with the Garden Club of Lincoln.
- Who is George Beadle, and why did he win the Nobel prize?
- And more!
Invited high school students from the Lincoln Public School Science Focus Program will spend Friday, May 17, touring the Beadle Center, Backyard Farmer Garden, the herbarium and plant library in Keim Hall and the East Campus greenhouses. They will also learn about plant root fungus, carotenoids, grains, food pigments and more from university scientists and graduate students.
Fascination of Plants Day is a worldwide coordinated activity to get as many people as possible around the world fascinated by plants and enthused about the importance of plant science. 2019 is the fifth year the European Plant Science Organisation launched this international event.
Animals and humans need plants to survive. The goal of this worldwide coordinated activity is to plant virtual and constantly germinating seeds in our collective minds that plant science is of critical significance to the social and environmental landscape now and into the future.
The event is sponsored by the Center for Plant Science Innovation and the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture.
In addition to Roston, Jeff Mower, associate professor of agronomy, and Chi Zhang, associate professor of biological sciences, are also members of the Fascination of Plants Day planning team.
Event will be moved to Nebraska’s Hardin Hall, 3310 Holdrege St., in case of inclement weather.
More details at https://go.unl.edu/plantsday
