Plants are an integral part of our life – we as human depend on them for our survival and wellbeing. Regardless of this innate reliance on plants, there seems to be a disparity of the awareness towards plants (until recently referred to as ‘Plant-Blindness’) in modern societies. This is particularly pronounced in younger adults.
As part of an ongoing research project, Dr Sven Batke from the Biology Department, together with SustainNET members from Business, Physiology, Linguistics and Education, set out to identify the underlying causes of this disparity. Recent work included a short article published in the Journal of Plant Sciences that demonstrated that the awareness towards plants can be improved in young UK adults, by making the school and university curriculum more plant focused.
The preliminary data from these findings have sparked a new research project that aims to better understand the disparity towards plants, by working together with young school children and university students in a multi-dimensional and cross-disciplinary study.
If you are interested in getting involved, please contact Dr. Sven Batke.