Hi, I'm Lindsay.

And I'm Marshall. Welcome to Tumble, the show where we explore stories of science discovery.

Today, we're digging into the hidden history of plant science.

Are we digging like literally? Like I'm going to go get a trowel.

There's no need for gardening tools, but we're going on a mission to unearth the buried stories of black scientists.

And we have a very special botanist to guide us down to the roots of plant science.

Sean Abraham's has been on a lifelong journey to study plants in the people behind them.

My personal view is I don't think you can be a scientist without engaging in the world around you and knowing the human part of our science.

Sean is a botanist or plant scientist who uses they-than-pronounce.

They've always been curious about the human part of science and they've loved plants since they were a kid.

I had two modes as a kid. I was either outside kicking up rocks, climbing palm trees, doing the thing in South Florida.

Or I was glued to the front of my television, watching discovery channel, national geographic,

anything that had like cool animals or facts. I was the kind of kid that was like, oh did you know?

I always had a fact for everyone who came around me.

Yeah, I mean I kind of have to confess. I still am that kind of kid.

I bet a lot of our listeners are that kind of kid.

Anyhow, there was one scene from a nature documentary about plants that made a huge impression on Sean.

There was a time lapse video of this vine crawling across the forest floor and climbing up a tree looking for light.

And it's like waving around trying to find the little ray of light coming down through the canopy.

And it blew my mind.

As you can see, the vine is actively searching on the jungle floor for something. Could it be a friend?

That was the scene that set Sean on their path to become a botanist.

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