In 1938, two botanists, Elzada Clover and Lois Jotter, made an ambitious voyage down the Colorado River driven by the desire to chronicle the plant life of the American Southwest. In her new book Brave the Wild River, science journalist Melissa Sevigny traces their expedition through the Grand Canyon, which led them through seething rapids and the occasional mishap. Journalists of the day gawked at their gender and the pair were forced to pick up chores labeled as “women’s work." Still, they managed to collect hundreds of plants that hadn't yet been catalogued by researchers. Their observations about desert ecosystems were notable even decades later, as scientists looked to them to learn about how dams had changed the Colorado. Sevigny joins us this week to share the botanists' story and the reporting behind it.
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#352 Good Thinking
#351 Contraception
#350 Science In Wonderland
#349 Getting Away With Murder (REBROADCAST)
#348 Artificial Intelligence
#347 Where Do Camels Belong?
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