Extreme Botany

In this week’s episode, we’re joined by NYBG Assistant Curator Ana María Bedoya, Ph.D., whose career as a scientist takes her on many a wild adventure. She spends much of her time tracking down aquatic plants that live in some of the harshest conditions, including steep cliffs, river rapids, and tumbling waterfalls—a practice Bedoya likes to call “extreme botany.” Listen in as we discuss her research in the wilderness of South America, the reasons many aquatic plants are especially vulnerable to climate change, and her journeys getting her feet wet (literally) in Earth’s most extreme ecosystems.