Ep. 578 - Trees & Their Hybrids in a Changing World

In Defense of Plants Podcast

In Defense of Plants

Plants, Botany, Science, Ecology, Nature, Natural Sciences

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 17 May 2026

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Long lived organisms like trees face a lot of challenges throughout their lifetime. Disturbances big and small coupled with climate change are going to continue to stress trees wherever they grow. Which trees have the highest capacity to deal with said stresses? We don't know until we go looking. That is what drives scientists like Dr. Jill Hamilton. Join us as we look at how she is using poplars, spruce, and ash to understand how trees and their hybrids may or may not have what it takes to survive climate stress. This episode was produced in part by Joe, Diane, Kim, Tanya, Neil, Matthew, April, Dana, Lilith, Sanza, Eva, Yellowroot, Wisewren, Nadia, Heidi, Blake, Josh, Laure, R.J., Carly, Lucia, Dana, Sarah, Lauren, Strych Mind, Linda, Sylvan, Austin, Sarah, Ethan, Elle, Steve, Cassie, Chuck, Aaron, Gillian, Abi, Rich, Shad, Maddie, Owen, Linda, Alana, Sigma, Max, Richard, Maia, Rens, David, Robert, Thomas, Valerie, Joan, Mohsin Kazmi Photography, Cathy, Simon, Nick, Paul, Charis, EJ, Laura, Sung, NOK, Stephen, Heidi, Kristin, Luke, Sea, Shannon, Thomas, Will, Jamie, Waverly, Brent, Tanner, Rick, Kazys, Dorothy, Katherine, Emily, Theo, Nichole, Paul, Karen, Randi, Caelan, Tom, Don, Susan, Corbin, Keena, Robin, Peter, Whitney, Kenned, Margaret, Daniel, Karen, David, Earl, Jocelyn, Gary, 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, 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	Conversations like you're about to hear do not happen unless you support In Defensive Plants.
0:04.4	And now more than ever, we need conversations like this to reach as many ears as possible.
0:08.9	One of the best ways to help keep In Defensive Plants up and running is to become a patron over at patreon.com
0:14.0	slash In Defensive Plants.
0:15.8	In return for a tiny bit of support each month, you will get access to a completely separate podcast.
0:21.5	It explores a lot of really fun gardening topics, everything from seed collection and storage to growing native
0:26.1	plants, the struggles of trying to garden in different climates, and so much more. It's a heck of a lot of fun.
0:32.2	We're learning so much, and we're trying to share that with you. So come on and join the Patreon over
0:36.7	at patreon.com slash indefensive plants and help keep this show up and running in the process. I hope to see you over there. But in the meantime, on with the show. Hello everyone and welcome to the Indefensive Plants podcast, the official podcast of Indefensiveplants.com. What's up? This is your host, Matt. Welcome to the show. How is everyone doing this week? I am doing
0:54.7	great because we are talking about tree resiliency, especially in the face of climate change.
0:59.9	It can mean a lot of different things, but at the core of it, it's things like genetic diversity
1:03.9	and traits that can help them survive things like hard frosts, drought, heat waves, you name it.
1:13.0	It's a big world, but someone's got to tackle it.
1:18.0	And joining us to talk about her corner of it today is Dr. Jill Hamilton. She's doing incredible things with groups of trees like spruce and poplars, trying to understand how hybridization
1:22.7	can be beneficial or not, and where we can apply those things to aspects of conservation, like the topic of
1:28.4	assisted migration. I don't want to steal any more of her thunder. This is a really fascinating
1:32.4	conversation, so let's just jump right into it. Without further ado, here's my conversation
1:36.0	with Dr. Jill Hamilton. I hope you enjoy. Thank you so much for having me. My name is Jill Hamilton.
2:23.0	I'm an associate professor at Pennsylvania State University, where I am also the director of the
2:29.9	Shot Center for Tree Molecular Genetics, which essentially means that I love trees, I love genetics,
2:39.6	and I get to use both on a daily basis to ask questions about how we can conserve trees, how we can
2:49.9	understand how they adapt to climate, and how we can conserve trees, how we can understand how they adapt to climate, and how we can
	...

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