Magazine

Many cultures around the world equate sunflowers with happiness and harvest. They have been used as a crop for thousands of years, having first been domesticated in parts of Northern America by Native Americans. With growing concerns over the Climate Crisis and food security, much research has been undertaken on crops to increase their yield, reduce emissions, and protect the viability of fertile land. Research related to sunflowers is having real-world impacts, including the creation of biofuels and eco-products using previously discarded harvest waste, and uses in pharmaceutical development.

“I’m excited that people are finally letting us remind them that plants exist and that they are here for a reason,” says Professor Joanne Chory, plant geneticist at the Plant Biology Group of the Salk Institute and Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Professor Chory is leading a new wave of carbon-sequestering science and I had the pleasure of discussing the research journey that took her from sunlight to soil.

The 2022 SEB Annual Conference in Montpellier is now only a few months away and we are very excited at the prospect of returning to the format of a physical meeting. Plant sessions this year span the scales of biology!

The SEB is a proudly international society, welcoming scientists from many different countries, cultures, and life histories. We speak with Paul Bangura, a PhD student at the University of Helsinki, Finland, as he shares his harrowing journey from abducted child soldier to fisheries biologist.

It is, therefore, a genuine honour and privilege to take up the position as incoming President at this time in the Society’s history, as we approach our Centenary Year in 2023

History is full of women who made enormous contributions to science. This has led to the increased recognition of pioneers of science, including Marie Curie, Ada Lovelace, and Rosalind Franklin. However, there are many more amazing women who have changed the face of science who are not such household names, dating back from ancient history all the way to present times. Here we explore the lives of just three of the women who have changed the face of biology.

Climate change may be the biggest global challenge we currently face, but some of the most exciting solutions could come from working at the smallest scales of life. Caroline Wood takes a look at some of the new developments in cell science that could help us to slash our carbon emissions and achieve net zero.

Humans are inquisitive creatures. We like to know what other creatures are up to when we’re not watching. Whether it’s through body temperature, blood chemistry, respiration, or even just movement, the miniaturisation of biologging technology allows us to track and monitor the lives of wild animals, both inside and out. But what can these insights tell us about how animals interact with each other and their environment, especially in the face of a changing climate? Let’s find out.

Much has been written about preprints over the last few years, about their place in open science and their increasing role in science communication. Behind many preprints there are early-career researchers seeking to share their work with their community. Why are early-career researchers embracing preprints?

The Young Scientist Award Session (YSAS) is held each year at the SEB Conference. Each year, SEB invites its early career delegates to submit their abstract to the YSAS session during the SEB Conference, to compete for The Young Scientist Award Session (YSAS).

The SEB, by its very nature, is experimental. So, when the time came to organise the 2021 SEB Annual Conference as a completely online event for the first time ever, experimenting was the only way forward. I spoke with members of the SEB team to discuss their first purely virtual conference and to weigh up the successes, challenges, and lessons from this year’s online SEB Annual Conference.

Alex Evans caught up with early career researcher and proud SEB member Dr Leena Thorat to discuss her work on the stress tolerance of insects, as well as how she tolerates the stressors of her own active research career.

 ‘Think unthinkable’: Hiroshi Wada’s personal motto seems highly appropriate for a plant physiologist who dedicated his career to realising the ambition a university lecturer shared with him during his undergraduate days.

Rosie Trice is a senior journals publishing manager at Wiley.

At the start of 2020, few people had heard of COVID-19, and fewer still could imagine the world would be facing its most recent global pandemic. As the virus continued to spread, human activity slowed to reduce transmission, making way for the so-called Anthropause. This period presented a unique opportunity to not only understand how humans had affected the environment and its inhabitants, but to also give it some time to recover from previous anthropogenic impacts (e.g. lower carbon emissions).

Since the start of my research career, I have been interested in climate change and all of the implications that it can have for nature.”

An online event initiated by a dedicated group has taken Twitter by storm, forming a new community of Black botanists all over the world. In this article, we talk with two of its founding members: Dr Tanisha Williams and Professor Nokwanda (Nox) Makunga.