The 2021 Season of Science on Tap kicks off with Dr. Karen Snetselaar sharing everything you’ve ever wanted to know about plant sex!
You might need to forget everything you think you know about sex to fully understand how flowers are both sexual and asexual, and how ferns reproduce essentially in the same way flowering plants do. Join us as we revisit the ancient debate over whether plants have sex at all, and find out that the pro-sex and anti-sex proponents were each partly right. The answer to the question was provided in 1851 by Wilhelm Hofmeister, an obscure near-sighted self-taught botanist, but even today the details seem like something out of science fiction!
About the speaker: Dr. Karen Snetselaar
Dr. Karen Snetselaar is Professor of Biology, Emeritus at Saint Joseph’s University. She has been a member of the faculty of the Wagner Free Institute of Science since 2000, where she teaches free courses. Her research focuses on fungi and plant disease. She is also interested in urban ecology and in promoting public understanding of science, especially science education outreach into K-12 schools. She leads the Wagner’s partnership with Saint Joseph’s University, GeoKids LINKS, which brings intensive science learning into Philadelphia schools.