Green News A newsletter for undergrad botany students VOLUME 1: ISSUE 4 JUNE 2010 Winter is here Gentianella sp. Well the weather over the last week or so has definitely signalled that winter is here. Although the shortest day is only 20 days away this ‘colder’ weather is likely to stick around for a number of months yet with snow often coating INSIDE THIS ISSUE the hills as late as October. As a year‐round resident of Dunedin, I can assure you that Dunedin weather does get warmer (just not often, and usually when ∆ Tertiary information day most of the student population has left for the summer). This issue has all Alex Ghaemaghamy the usual articles plus some showcasing of the extra‐curricula activities that students get up to while studying. Anyway I hope exams go well, and for those going home for the holidays, ∆ Summer studentships enjoy the warmer weather… Sarah Fisher Ella ∆ An interesting find Tertiary information day... Luke Easton Alex Ghaemaghamy is a third year student doing a Botany degree with an Ecology minor. Recently she helped out at the Botany stand at Tertiary infor‐ ∆ Paper review mation day. She writes about her experience... BIOL 113 ‘A day spent working behind the Botany stand turned out to be a rather interesting experience in ways I did not expect. Not only did it provide an ∆ Student repping opportunity to view things from “the other side of the counter”, it also Eva Pomeroy induced some forced reflection on this degree I have chosen to do, espe‐ cially in terms of where it might take me in the future.’ ∆ Plant of the month ‘It all started around 9am when the hall became packed with hordes of Acer capillipes wide‐eyed school students, weaving their way between stalls with packs of friends. Behaviour seemed to consist mainly of picking up the odd pamphlet and seeing what could be scored for free (especially in terms of ∆ Upcoming events food). Our rotating pitcher plant didn’t really compete with the happen‐ ings at the zoology stall opposite. However, many of those who were ∆ Photos smart enough to venture over to our stall for a free sneak peak at some fungal spores down a microscope left with, I think (or hope), a new found interest in the wonderful world of plants.’ ‘As could probably be expected, our stall attracted a number of weird and wonderful characters, many of whom just wanted to fondle the carnivorous plants and/or ask about marijuana and mushrooms. Other questions often followed the tone of, “What can you do with a botany degree?” A good question and one which I admittedly had anticipated somewhat nervously, as, despite be‐ ing in my 3rd year of studying towards this degree, I often find my‐ self pondering the same question. In a strange way, I found that telling others what they could “do with a botany degree” kind of answered some of my own questions about it. So, if you are feeling unsure about your degree, I would definitely recommend explain‐ ing to someone all the different things that you could do with it, Alex at the Botany stand maybe even volunteer to work at an info day about it, you might get a free lunch.’ Summer Studentships… Sarah Fisher is a third year student studying botany, ecology and marine science papers. She is taking papers in these subjects because they are the subjects that interest her the most. I asked her to write about her student‐ ship. It’s Not Just Grass — ‘Over the summer of 2009‐2010, I was lucky to be given a summer studentship to work on a research project towards es‐ tablishing a possible mechanism for guild based assembly rules in the Botany Lawn. The aim of the project was to analyse how different spe‐ cies and guilds within the Botany Lawn community recover from lawn mowing. After spending years weeding and lawn mowing and cursing the weeds for growing so fast, it was great to be on the flipside taking so much care with selected species in each guild to set up a hydroponic sys‐ tem where I would simulate the lawn mowing with a delicate snip from the scissors. After carefully washing the leaves and roots of what were once lumped into either ‘weeds’ or ‘grass’, I learnt to recognise and ap‐ preciate the individual features of different species growing in the lawn Hydroponic system set up to community. The studentship also offered a great opportunity to develop simulate lawn mowing safe lab practices while working in the fume‐hood to extract the starch and sugars after I had dried and ground the harvested samples into a fine powder. I learnt a lot over the summer and recommend taking up a studentship to anyone who is interested in extending their practical skills beyond what is taught in the labs. The only drawback of becoming interested in different species of grass is catching myself lingering at cracks in the pavement to identify what hardy species of ‘weed’ is able to grow in such tough conditions!’ An interesting find... Luke Easton is a first year student majoring in Zoology, but taking a few Bot‐ any papers. He enjoys Botany because it provides an insight into the diver‐ sities of ecosystems and how essential plants are as drivers of ecosystems. He made an interesting find while on holiday which, after investigation, was Witches broom on Pittosporum published in the ODT on the 3rd May. tenuifolium ‘Whilst pruning away a Pittosporum tenuifolium (kohuhu) on our rental property in Greytown, South Wairarapa, I happened to notice a growth that looked somewhat like a mistletoe.’ ‘Having done some background research, and currently working on a local project in establishing Korthalsella lindsayi, I realised that this was something different (i.e., it was neither a native nor exotic recorded spe‐ cies assuming that this was a mistletoe). So after taking some photos I directed these to John Steel who immediately indicated the possibility of this growth being cause by Eriophyid mites (witches broom) but that they would need a sample to be sure. Back to warm Wairarapa for the holiday I retrieved this curious find and forwarded it to the Botany Dept in a plastic bag to be identified. Tony Harris (an entomologist at Dunedin Museum) confirmed that this was no mistletoe and that it was indeed witches broom. However, the cause of it remains unclear as the speci‐ men was refrigerated before it could be examined so any mites (Acalitus kohus and Aceria tenuifolii which Tony expected could have caused it) present had perished. Considering these mites had not originally been Close up of witches broom, associated with kohuhu this would have been a very unusual find so we note the ‘normal’ sized leaf to can only assume that this was caused by a fungal growth.’ the left of the photo Paper review—BIOL 113 BIOL 113—Biology of Plants—Second semester Kelsey Picard is a second year student majoring in Plant Biotechnology with a minor in Botany. She took BIOL113 last year and is currently enjoying the second year botany papers she is taking. ‘When I signed up to take the BIOL113 paper I was a bit apprehensive. At the time I was only interested in human and animal biology so I was really dreading a whole semester of plant biology, but very early on my whole outlook changed as I developed a real interest and passion for the subject.’ ‘The first lecture we had was on fungi with David Orlovich. To be honest, at the time I couldn’t think of anything worse, but after two or so lec‐ tures of his I found myself really looking forward to the lectures every week. We learnt about mosses and ferns, higher plants, algae and the different lifecycles and reproductive methods in which each lecturer’s passion and enthusiasm in their topics made it very enjoyable. It was also very inspiring to learn of the possibilities botany has to offer in terms of biofuels and sustainable living.’ ‘Once a week we had a lab with John Steel. We got to make our own perfume using flowers we could find in the botany department gardens; we even learnt that strawberries and raspberries aren’t actually true Kelsey making perfume with berries and we got to view microscopic spores that we prepared our‐ white roses. selves under microscopes. The small, friendly labs were thoroughly en‐ joyable and the demonstrators were very friendly and approachable.’ ‘Many of my friends and I have changed our majors or minors to botany after taking this paper. This paper is a great overall introduction into the world of plants and I would definitely recommend it to anyone inter‐ ested in plants, but also to those who haven’t yet thought about what botany has to offer; I can guarantee that you will enjoy it.’ Being a student rep… Eva Pomeroy is a third year student studying combined ecology and zoology honours and also demonstrating for ecology and botany. She loves the ecol‐ ogy/botany department because it’s small and friendly and the lecturers are helpful and encouraging. She also enjoys the hands on approach to both courses because it keeps her interested and can be quite fun. This year she is a student rep for ECOL 313—Ecology field course. ‘Being a student rep is a beneficial experience that doesn’t require much extra work.’ ‘I enjoy being student rep because I like contributing to how my papers are run and how they could be improved. At a rep meeting each student rep from the department gets to say how they think their paper is going including what is working well and what needs improvement.