Ep. 285 - Eyes in the Sky: Plant Conservation's Aerial Assistant
In Defense of Plants Podcast
In Defense of Plants
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 4 October 2020
⏱️ 48 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Treacherous topography can often serve as a safeguard for rare plant populations. Being difficult or even impossible to reach can protect plants from the myriad pressures that threaten them. Imagine what we could find tucked away among cliffs and ledges where most animals cannot venture. My gust today has managed to find a novel way of surveying plant communities in such habitats. Joining us is GIS Specialist and Drone Program Coordinator of the National Tropical Botanical Garden, Ben Nyberg. Ben and his colleagues have developed a drone program that is making great strides in endangered plant conservation in Hawai'i. From finding new populations of endangered species to relocating plants thought to be extinct, drones are proving to be powerful tools in plant conservation.This podcast was produced in part by Ali, Margaret, Southside Plants, Robert, Keiko, Bryce, Brittany, Helen, Amanda, Mikey, Rhiannon, Michelle, Kate, German, Joerg, Alejandra, Cathy, Jordan, Judy, Steve, Kae, Carole, Mr. Keith Santner, Dana, Chloe, Aaron, Sara, Kenned, Vaibhav, Kendall, Christina, Brett, Jocelyn, Kathleen, Ethan, Kaylee, Runaway Goldfish, Ryan, Donica, Chris, Shamora, Alana, Laura, Alice, Sarah, Rachel, Joanna, Griff, Philip, Paul, Matthew, Clark, Bobby, Kate, Steven, Brittney, McMansion Hell, Joey, Catherine, Brandon, Hall, Vegreville Creek and Wetlands Fund, Kevin, Oliver, John, Johansson, Christina, Jared, Hannah, Katy Pye, Brandon, Gwen, Carly, Stephen, Botanical Tours, Moonwort Studios, Liba, Mohsin Kazmi Takes Pictures, doeg, Clifton, Stephanie, Benjamin, Eli, Rachael, Plant By Design, Philip, Brent, Ron, Tim, Homestead Brooklyn, Brodie, Kevin, Sophia, Mark, Rens, Bendix, Irene, Holly, Caitlin, Manuel, Jennifer, Sara, and Margie.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Would you like more In Defensive Plants each month? |
| 0:02.7 | Well, you're in luck. |
| 0:03.7 | Indefensive Plants is now offering bonus mini episodes over at our Patreon page. |
| 0:08.1 | To find out how you can gain access to this bonus botanical content, head on over to patreon.com |
| 0:13.1 | slash Indefensive Plants and consider becoming a patron. |
| 0:16.7 | And as always, thank you for your continued support of Inefensive Plants. |
| 0:20.3 | Together we are helping cure plant blindness around the world one episode at a time. |
| 0:24.9 | Hello everyone and welcome to the In Defensive Plants podcast, the official podcast |
| 0:31.1 | of Indefensive Plants.com. What's up? This is your host, Matt. Welcome to the show. |
| 0:35.0 | How's everyone doing this week? I am so excited about my guest today because joining us is Ben Nyberg. |
| 0:41.3 | He's the GIS and drone program coordinator for the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Hawaii, |
| 0:46.3 | and Ben has possibly one of the coolest jobs in the world. |
| 0:50.3 | He's developed a drone program for the botanical garden that aims to locate, map, and even |
| 0:55.4 | potentially collect specimens and seeds of some of the rarest plants in the world. |
| 1:00.7 | As many of you probably know, Hawaii is one of the extinction capitals of the world. |
| 1:05.0 | There was so many endemic species, both plant and animal there, that have been lost to human |
| 1:09.4 | development. |
| 1:24.6 | But Hawaii is also home to some seriously complex and treacherous topography that can be hiding a lot of botanical secrets and a lot of species might be tucked away in places where humans, invasive, goats, and other ecological issues cannot reach them. And that's where drones come in. |
| 1:25.6 | Ben's drone program is already making massive strides |
| 1:28.6 | in conservation and is a real inspiration for the innovation and application of new technologies for |
| 1:34.4 | plant conservation. So I don't want to keep you from this any longer. This is an amazing |
| 1:37.7 | conversation and I really think you're going to enjoy it. So without further ado, here's my |
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