In March 2020 university campuses the world over closed when the World Health Organization officially declared that the SARS-cov-2 virus, and the disease that it causes, Covid-19 were a pandemic. Scientists and members of the public health sector came together in an amazing spirit of collaboration that brought us vaccines in a very short amount […]
Dawn's Blog and General News Items
COP 28 delivered a compromise deal that disappointed scientists but we are expanding opportunities for YorkU to participate in UN Climate Change spaces
You may have stumbled across recent newspaper articles stating that 2023 was the hottest year on record since humans have tracked temperatures. Should you be alarmed? Without a doubt, yes, especially since scientists have long warned about these climatic changes if greenhouse gas emissions were not curbed. The planet's main hope for slowing anthropogenic […]
Find the full list of all Botany Books reviewed during Advent Botany 2023 here
Here is the complete list of 2023 Advent Botany gift recommendations. All the books but one (Hallé's In Praise of Plants) were written in English, and there is one Spanish translation from the English, but many of them have an international focus of some kind. In future years, we hope to include more books in […]
How Do Flowers Grow? by Katie Daynes - Advent Botany Day 14
Dr. Fallon Tanentzap has more Botanical Book Gift Suggestions. This one is for four-year olds. You are never too old to set life goals and reach for your dreams. In my view, illustrated children’s science books are an example of #sciencecommunication at its finest. One of my lifelong ambitions is to become a published author-illustrator […]
Lessons from Plants by Beronda Montgomery - Advent Botany Day 13
Lessons from Plants (2021) by Professor Beronda L. Montgomery, is a slim volume with an utterly gorgeous cover. “Bijou” is the word that comes to mind in describing the feel and look of this book. The online Oxford English Dictionary defines bijou as “A jewel, a trinket; a ‘gem’ among works of art. Also… small […]
Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart - Advent Botany Day 10
Advent Botany Day 10: Wicked Plants by Amy Stewart This guest post is by the versatile, talented, Dr. Fallon Tanentzap Wicked Plants - The Weed That Killed Lincoln’s Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities (2009) by Amy Stewart is nothing short of a multi-award winning tour-de-force of a page turner. The book is petite and decorative […]
The Invention of Nature by Andrea Wulf - Advent Botany Day 9
In the Washington Post, Michael Dirda recently listed 22 books that he re-reads. I also have a weirdly catholic list of books that I like to re-visit regularly. Of course, Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings is on my list. Legendary Dracula actor, Christopher Lee (1922-2015), who played Saruman in the films reportedly re-read them every […]
The Botany of Desire by Michael Pollan - Advent Botany Day 5
Dr. Fallon Tanentzap reviews The Botany of Desire (2001) by Michael Pollan. The book inspired her to create some original art (below)! Advent Botany Day 5 by Fallon Tanentzap At this time of year, when the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping is in full swing, I try my best to support local artists and […]
Advent Botany returns for 2023 with Botanical Book Gift Ideas for the holiday season
The popular Advent Botany blog series, launched in 2015 by Drs. Alastair Culham and Jonathan Mitchley of the University of Reading, has been on hiatus for the past two years. Correction: In fact, they first launched Advent Botany in 2014. The first post that I ever contributed was about Red Osier Dogwood. Alastair thought to […]
Getting back to blogging after a nearly two year hiatus
The covid-19 pandemic has been tough on science communication and social media. X (formerly Twitter) is a toxic virtual space, and the algorithms of Instagram make it difficult to see the content that I want to see. As well, we are now getting slower, less hasty research about the long-term impact of the pandemic, including […]
