Botany Bistro

Open your eyes to the fascinating world of plants in ways you never considered as you dive deep into botanical topics and scientific exploration during your lunch hour! This virtual lunch and learn series, held every other Friday from 12 to 12:45pm, will uncover the science behind plant form and function while highlighting significant local efforts to advance and conserve our botanical heritage.

Learners of all levels are welcome to join in and further their knowledge of plants. No matter what your background or interests are, understanding the complex processes of how plants thrive will help you maintain a healthy garden ecosystem in your landscape and empower you to protect and nurture natural spaces.

The Botany Bistro Schedule

These are the topics for the 2023-24 Botany Bistro series. (Looking for a past session? Check out the Botany Bistro archive.)

  • June 2, 16 & 30, 2023: Basic Botany, the scientific study of plants, including their physiology, structure, genetics, ecology, distribution, classification and economic importance

  • July 14 & 28, 2023: Plant Morphology, the study of the physical form and external structure of plants

  • August 11 & 25, 2023: Plant Anatomy, the study of the internal structure of plants, frequently investigated at the cellular level and often involving the sectioning of tissues and microscopy

  • September 8 & 22, 2023: Plant Systematics & Taxonomy, the science that finds, identifies, describes, classifies and names plants

  • October 6 & 20, 2023: Plant Physiology, the study of the chemical and physical processes associated with life as they occur in plants

  • November 3 & 17, 2023: Plant Pathology, the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens and environmental conditions

  • December 1, 15 & 29, 2023: Plant Breeding & Genetics, the study of genes, genetic variation and heredity specifically in plants

  • January 12 & 26, 2024: Paleobotany, the branch of botany dealing with the recovery and identification of plant remains from geological contexts

  • February 9 & 23, 2024: Ethnobotany, the study of a region's plants and their practical uses through the traditional knowledge of a local culture and people

  • March 8 & 22, 2024: Agronomy, the science and technology of producing and using plants by agriculture for food, fuel, fiber, chemicals, recreation or land conservation

  • April 5 & 19, 2024: Plant Biotechnology, the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services

  • May 3 & 17, 2024: Plant Ecology, a subdiscipline of ecology that studies the distribution and abundance of plants, the effects of environmental factors upon the abundance of plants, and the interactions among plants and between plants and other organisms

Dates can also be found on our main CGC calendar.

How to Participate

There’s no cost and no registration required to participate in Botany Bistro sessions. You can simply mark your calendar and then join the Google Meet a little before noon on a Friday when a session is happening.

If you’d like to get a reminder email ahead of each session, you can sign up here:

 
 

Can’t make a particular session? Joined us partway through the series and want to catch up? Want to re-watch a favorite session? You can access past classes in our Botany Bistro archive.

Meet Your Instructor

CGC Ecology Education Manager Mary Dudley is a passionate educator who strives to bring environmental education to students of all ages who seek to integrate nature into their daily lives and classroom curriculum. Prior to rejoining the CGC team, she worked as the agriculture education teacher at James N. Gamble Montessori High School. Mary holds two graduate degrees: one in botany and another in workforce development education.

Mary created Botany Bistro because, as she explains: “The study of botany is very important to me personally. It has given me the ability to diagnose and treat plant problems, identify plants in nature and my backyard and appreciate the wonder of plants around me. I want to share this knowledge freely in the hopes that all of our neighbors will have the ability to incorporate plants into their lives, diets and playscapes.”