In 1938, two botanists, Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter, made an ambitious voyage down the Colorado River driven by the desire to chronicle the plant life of the American Southwest. In her new book Brave the Wild River, science journalist Melissa Sevigny traces their expedition through the Grand Canyon, which led them through seething rapids and the occasional mishap. Journalists of the day gawked at their gender and the pair were forced to pick up chores labeled as “women’s work." Still, they managed to collect hundreds of plants that hadn't yet been catalogued by researchers. Their observations about desert ecosystems were notable even decades later, as scientists looked to them to learn about how dams had changed the Colorado. Sevigny joins us this week to share the botanists' story and the reporting behind it.
#642 The Last Episode
#641 The Last Nerd Gift Guide
#640 The Last Science Book Club
#639 The One About Periods
#638 Do you feel love? What about ecstasy?
#637 A special announcement
#636 Life on an unruly planet
#635 Crossings: How Road Ecology Is Shaping the Future of Our Planet
#634 Back to the future
#633 An Ice History
#632 We are what we eat
#631 Tenacious Beasts
#630 The Jewel Box
#629 How birds go the distance
#627 Ancient Migrations
#626 Our Friend, the Wasp
#625 This one really is about aliens
#624 The Devil’s Element
#623 Peopling the Americas
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