I was one of just three plant scientists in my year. In that same year there were over 100 animal scientists. Apparently the lack of fur and cuteness makes plants extremely dull to an alarming amount of people when, in reality, plants are the reason life on Earth exists as it does today.
Admittedly, I was late to the whole plant science thing too, only swapping my degree in my final year from Applied Biology to Plant Science and I mainly put this down to having some excellent lectures in my second year about crop improvement and global food security.
What caught my imagination and attention was the idea that plants could solve, in my opinion, the two biggest crises the human population is attempting to overcome. Firstly, feeding an ever-growing population of humans, alongside all the animals we keep as well; secondly, our dependency on finite fossil fuels.
National Geographic recently published an interesting series based around how we can possibly feed 9 billion people in 2050, which introduces some wonderful ideas about how to begin this momentous task:
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/foodfeatures/feeding-9-billion/
Whilst their 5 step plan would certainly help alleviate the pressure on food production it would not completely resolve the problem.
But there are many options that could! We have already exhausted the efficiency of using fertilisers on crops, and simply piling more onto our farmers fields will not increase yields; it will just pollute the groundwater and nearby rivers. However, we could improve how efficiently crops use the nitrogen from the fertiliser during growth. GM and non-GM methods are available to do this and many experts are already working on solutions.
In terms of alternative energy sources I personally find algal fuel the most exciting! Algae is a unique organism that can be microscopic but is most commonly recognised as seaweed.
It is a simple plant with no roots or leaves but it can photosynthesize up to 30 times faster than some crop plants, removing CO2 and pollutants from the air as it goes and releasing oxygen as a by-product.
It can grow in salt water and requires no soil meaning that algal farms can be grown on land which is completely unsuitable for arable crops .It can also be used to make biofuels.
The main downside of this incredible technology currently is the cost. Converting the energy algae produces into a usable form currently puts it out of reach for most developing countries, however its certainly something to keep an eye out for in the future!
This is a link to a great video about the uses of algae to help over come our dependency on oil:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ih-DLurcZA
That’s a very brief insight to just two small ways plant science can help shape the future, hope you enjoyed 🙂