Tuesday, May 11, 2021
Superstar vs Carver
Some botanists are starting to realize the trouble with tenure and grants. A welcome dose of real humility.
It turned out that the species that were most at risk of extinction weren’t the most likely to be written about. Instead, appearance seems to play a big part in research interest, as they report in the journal Nature Plants. For example, plants with blue flowers were found to be studied the most – much more so than brown or green ones. Also, the taller the plant was, the more likely it was to appear in scientific publications. This disparity could be chalked up to what Mammola and Adamo deem an “aesthetic bias” in botany. “We pretend as scientists to be the quintessential example of objectivity,” says Mammola. “But in reality, we are just as biased as the rest of the world.”Tall people have all the advantages. Blue-eyed blondes have all the advantages. Turns out to be true with plants as well.
Plus, research tends to follow a self-fulfilling cycle: the more that is known about a certain species, the more likely it is to be studied by other researchers. “And then all the efforts in the fundraising or whatever happens to go towards that one, and then others sort of fall by the wayside – and go extinct,” says Cowell.Tenure perpetuates orthodoxy. Funding always goes to the most popular views and theories and plants. Here's the junction point with Carver:
She encourages early-career researchers to pay attention to all the plants around them, not just the ones that catch their eye. “Be the next group of discoverers and explorers. It may be in your own backyard.”Carver specifically studied the plants of the South, the plants that his people knew, the plants that could help his people. He advised scientists: LOOK ABOUT YOU. TAKE HOLD OF THE THINGS THAT ARE HERE. TALK TO THEM. LET THEM TALK TO YOU.
Labels: Carver
¶ 12:31 AM
