Conservation's Link to Humanity & Hope, Dr. Kyra Krakos & Dr. Peter Raven
An organic conversation between Peter Raven & Kyra Krakos will explore the connections between humanity and a sustainable world, including a call to action we can each take in our own lives. Dr. Kyra N Krakos was named Science Educator of the Year by the STL Academy of Science in 2016. She teaches courses in Ecology, Plants and People, Evolution, Conservation and Sustainability, and Botany. She focuses on research that emphasizes the need to understand the dynamics of the natural world in a changing environment, the evolution and ecology of plant reproduction, including plant-pollinator interactions and breeding systems, invasive species, and more.
Kyra did both her undergraduate and Masters in Integrative Biology at Brigham Young University, focusing on the impacts of invasive species on the pollination systems of tropical plant species. She did her doctorate at Washington University. She is a member of the Botanical Society for America, American Women in Science, and served as the co-director the Missouri state Junior Science, Engineering, and Humanities Symposium from 2012-2016.Kyra is a St. Louis Biodiversity Fellow in the Living Earth Collaborative.
A well-known botanist and conservationist, Peter Raven served as Engelmann Professor of Botany at Washington University and president of the Missouri Botanical Garden starting in 1971. Earlier, he held a postdoctoral fellowship in London and a faculty position in the Department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University. His undergraduate degree was from the University of California, Berkeley, and his Ph.D. from UCLA.
A recipient of the National Medal of Science and of MacArthur and Guggenheim Fellowships, he led the Garden to a worldwide role in education, research, and conservation, concentrating on Latin America, Africa (especially Madagascar), and China. Citizen of the Year in St. Louis, he has received honorary degrees from Washington University, St. Louis University, and the University of Missouri as well as from Harvard, Yale, Leiden, and others. Raven has published nearly 800 papers and some 20 books, including The Biology of Plants, the best-selling botany textbook for the past 50 years. He served as co-editor of the 49-volume Flora of China, and has consistently encouraged colleagues around the world in their research efforts. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx