Ep. 371 - The Million Orchid Project
In Defense of Plants Podcast
In Defense of Plants
4.8 • 1.3K Ratings
🗓️ 29 May 2022
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A massive science experiment aimed at both studying and reintroducing orchids to their native landscapes? Yes, please! Join me and Dr. Jason Downing as we discuss Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden' Million Orchid Project and learn how everyone from children to students to city planners are getting involved in orchid research and conservation efforts. This episode was produced in part by Krysta, Elizabeth, Southern California Carnivorous Plant Enthusiasts, Pattypollinators, Peter, Judson, Ella, Alex, Dan, Pamela, Peter, Andrea, Nathan, Karyn, Michelle, Jillian, Chellie, Linda, Laura, Miz Holly, Christie, Carlos, Paleo Fern, Levi, Sylvia, Lanny, Ben, Lily, Craig, Sarah, Lor, Monika, Brandon, Jeremy, Suzanne, Kristina, Christine, Silas, Michael, Aristia, Felicidad, Lauren, Danielle, Allie, Jeffrey, Amanda, Tommy, Marcel, C Leigh, Karma, Shelby, Christopher, Alvin, Arek, Chellie, Dani, Paul, Dani, Tara, Elly, Colleen, Natalie, Nathan, Ario, Laura, Cari, Margaret, Mary, Connor, Nathan, Jan, Jerome, Brian, Azomonas, Ellie, University Greens, Joseph, Melody, Patricia, Matthew, Garrett, John, Ashley, Cathrine, Melvin, OrangeJulian, Porter, Jules, Griff, Joan, Megan, Marabeth, Les, Ali, Southside Plants, Keiko, Robert, Bryce, Wilma, Amanda, Helen, Mikey, Michelle, German, Joerg, Cathy, Tate, Steve, Kae, Carole, Mr. Keith Santner, Lynn, Aaron, Sara, Kenned, Brett, Jocelyn, Ethan, Sheryl, Runaway Goldfish, Ryan, Chris, Alana, Rachel, Joanna, Lori, Paul, Griff, Matthew, Bobby, Vaibhav, Steven, Joseph, Brandon, Liam, Hall, Jared, Brandon, Christina, Carly, Kazys, Stephen, Katherine, Mohsin Kazmi Takes Pictures, Manny, doeg, Daniel, Tim, Philip, Tim, Lisa, Brodie, Bendix, Irene, holly, Sara, and Margie.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello everyone and welcome to the Indefensive Plants Podcast, the official podcast of Indefensiveplants.com. |
| 0:05.7 | What's up? This is your host, Matt. Welcome to the show. How's everyone doing this week? |
| 0:09.4 | I am doing great. Today is a fantastic and inspirational episode that's going to get everyone fired up about plant conservation. |
| 0:17.2 | Joining us from Fairchild Tropical Botanical Garden is Dr. Jason Downing, and he is here to talk about |
| 0:22.0 | the Million Orchid Project. It is a native orchid reintroduction program that focuses on getting kids, |
| 0:28.8 | students, municipalities involved in orchid conservation in urban areas. It is a model program that |
| 0:34.8 | everyone needs to learn about, and it's doing amazing things for both people |
| 0:39.1 | and the planet at the same time. I will not do this justice in the intro. I'm going to let Dr. |
| 0:44.0 | Downing tell you all about it. So let's just jump right into it. Without further ado, here's my |
| 0:48.1 | conversation with Dr. Jason Downing. I hope you enjoy. |
| 1:08.2 | All right, Dr. Jason Downing, thank you so much for coming on the podcast. |
| 1:10.0 | I'm so excited to talk to you today. |
| 1:31.0 | But first, how about we start off with an introduction? Tell us a little bit about who you are and what it is you do. All right. Well, again, thanks for having us, well, me today, but representing Fairchild. I'm the orchid biologist with Fairchild. So pretty much anything orchid related, including the Million Orchid Project, which I think we'll spend a little bit time talking about today, is under my purview. |
| 1:42.2 | So really, it's a program that not only includes conservation of orchids, but also research, education, and all those things kind of wrapped up into one. |
| 2:18.1 | And it's really an amazing program to see how it's grown and scaled up over time. And so that's kind of what I do. Awesome. Yeah, it's an amazing program. And truly, I mean, one of a kind, at least in this country, it is fantastic. So I'm pumped to finally be able to talk about it. But what brought you to where you are today? I mean, were plants always of interest to you? Were orchids a big part of your life growing up? I mean, where did all of this kind of get started? That's a great question. So I'm still trying to figure out how, you know, I've ended up at the place I am. And so I have a lot of, you know, when it comes to young people, not having it all figured out as something that I actually went through. |
| 2:20.2 | Yeah. |
| 2:20.5 | And I had some experience with. |
| 2:22.0 | And so actually, I didn't have a lot of exposure to plants early on. |
| 2:28.2 | I grew up in Kansas City, from Midwest. |
| 2:31.9 | And sports were really important to me in music at the time. |
| 2:34.7 | And I really didn't really think much about biology. |
| 2:36.8 | And to be perfectly honest, where I grew up, science was really only relegated to the health |
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