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UnDisciplined: The Wetland Ecologist And The Forest Biotechnologist

Utah Public Radio | By Matthew LaPlante
Published October 13, 2018 at 3:05 PM MDT
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Karin Kettenring works to find the best restoration methods to protect Utah's wetlands.
Mark Larese-Casanova
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Karin M. Kettenring is an associate professor of watershed sciences and ecology in the College of Natural Resources at Utah State University.
Karin Kettenring / Utah State University
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Steve Strauss's research shows poplar trees can be genetically engineered not to spread.
Oregon State University
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Steve Strauss is a distinguished professor of forest biotechnology and the Leopold Fellow at Oregon State Univeristy.
Oregon State University

This week on UnDisciplined, we're talking about how genes impact plant growth, but from two very different perspectives. 

Steve Strauss studies ways genetic manipulation can make poplar trees grow faster for economic purposes. 

Karin Kettenring studies how gene flow impacts our ability to restore wetlands for environmental purposes. 

Together, we'll talk about genetic engineering, duck gizzards, and hopefully do some problem-solving along the way. 
Tags
Programs WeatherutahForestryConservationgreat salt lakeEcologyAgricultureWetlandsFloodsgenetic engineeringbiotechnologywater fowlgenetic modificationCRISPR
Matthew LaPlante
Matthew LaPlante has reported on ritual infanticide in Northern Africa, insurgent warfare in the Middle East, the legacy of genocide in Southeast Asia, and gang violence in Central America. But a few years back, something donned on him: Maybe the news doesn't have to be brutally depressing all the time. Today, he balances his continuing work on more heartbreaking subjects by writing books about the intersection of science, human health and society, including the New York Times best-selling Lifespan with geneticist David Sinclair and the Nautilus Award-winning Longevity Plan with cardiologist John Day. His first solo book, Superlative, looks at what scientists are learning by studying organisms that have evolved in record-setting ways, and his is currently at work on another book about embracing the inevitability of human-caused climate change with an optimistic outlook on the future.
See stories by Matthew LaPlante
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