[Aroid-l] Alocasia zebrina reticulata

From: mossytrail at hctc.com (mossytrail) on 2008.07.15 at 03:00:13(18157) > What a shame. What will happen when there are no field > botanists with the knowledge to recognize species in > habitat? I have taken young molecular taxonomists into > the field and some of them really have no clue what they > are looking at until you tell them. At this rate, there > will come a time when no field botanists will be able to > lead them to their samples...which they send off to > distant labs to analyze the relationships. > The other side is, those of us who ARE interested mainly in the field side of things have to consider our options. I am starting grad school this fall. Of the several schools I applied to, the one which offered me a position was East Carolina University, with a faculty member who mostly does wetland biodiversity processes, i.e., ecology. Yes, I believe I will enjoy that, as it does relate to my (admitteldly wide-ranging) interests; but whether I will be able later to cross over into field taxonomy, who knows? +More > The other problematic issue I see is that whole genomes > are not analyzed, only sections that are not necessarily > associated with known characteristics. I see a great need > for traditional botany...but the lure of molecular biology > is hooking most of the young fish these days. The young fish, as in every time, have to think about their long-term prospects. Molecular biology is often portrayed as the wave of the future, and thus can *appear* to be a better long-term prospect than traditional botany. If you want more young scientists to enter traditional botany, including field taxonomy, they need to see how it can be an equally good long-term prospect. If they are not aware of this, they are not making fully informed decisions. Jason Hernandez Naturalist-at-Large

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