Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Dustin Wolkis @dustinwolkis.bsky.social · 27d

🌺 In-depth @biographic.bsky.social article by @toughcitywriter.bsky.social on #pollen banking for plant #conservation; fun, thoughtful, with voices of 3 pollen bankers worldwide.

🌴 Pollen banking is a critical tool for conserving plant diversity.

www.biographic.com/banking-on-p...

Banking on Pollen

When seed saving doesn’t work, pollen may be the answer to preserving botanical heritage.

www.biographic.com

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Dustin Wolkis @dustinwolkis.bsky.social · 27d

👨‍🎓 Student research alert!

🌱 John Steinhorst's MSc work now published in @ashs-hort.bsky.social #HortScience!

🌺 Capparis sandwichiana (Maiapilo) seeds have physiological dormancy. This knowledge will help stakeholders in the conservation of this endemic Hawaiian species.

doi.org/10.21273/HOR...

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Dustin Wolkis @dustinwolkis.bsky.social · 27d

Honored to be featured in this article!

Adrienne Mason @toughcitywriter.bsky.social · 28d

Pleased to see this story in @biographic.bsky.social go live. Thanks to @dustinwolkis.bsky.social and @jonletman.bsky.social for taking time with me and for welcoming journalism fellows to the @ntbgarden.bsky.social Thanks to @judeisabella.bsky.social & @shannabaker.bsky.social for the wise edits.

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Reposted by Dustin Wolkis

International Society for Seed Science @intlsocseedsci.bsky.social · Jul 7

The full programme for this year’s ISSS Conference is now available! Take a look at the exciting line-up of talks and workshops planned for what promises to be one of the year’s top events in hashtag#SeedScience. More information on the following link: lnkd.in/evaVjrRg

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Dustin Wolkis @dustinwolkis.bsky.social · Jul 18

🥀 The Journal of Lost Species (JLS) is a #peer-reviewed record of the ongoing mass #extinction event.

🆓 All articles will be freely available with no publication charges.

📃 We are recruiting articles for the first issue! For info on the journal & article types visit;

www.journaloflostspecies.org

JLS

The Journal of Lost Species (JLS) is a peer-reviewed record of the ongoing mass extinction event. Our goals are to advance scientific understanding of extinction, support the development of methods fo...

www.journaloflostspecies.org

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Dustin Wolkis @dustinwolkis.bsky.social · Jul 17

🌺 @ntbgarden.bsky.social 's #Amorphophallus titanum ( #Araceae) named Pua Pilo ("stinky flower") featured on @hawaiinewsnow.com

🖌️ We will pollinate with collaborator #pollen, bank and reciprocate Pua Pilo's pollen.

🌱 #Metacollection in action!

www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2025/07/17/m...

Meet ‘Pua Pilo,’ the corpse flower about to raise a stink on Kauai

A corpse flower plant on Kauai is about to bloom for the very first time

www.hawaiinewsnow.com

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Reposted by Dustin Wolkis

National Tropical Botanical Garden @ntbgarden.bsky.social · Jun 26

We're hiring! 🌱for positions in #Hawaii and #Florida. Interested in joining the NTBG team? Browse job opportunities at ntbg.org/about/jobs/ #Miami #Kauai

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Dustin Wolkis @dustinwolkis.bsky.social · Jul 1

🌊 Out now in #Oecologia, Sensitivity to elevated salinity in coastal dune plants!

🌱 Despite growing near the ocean, Hawaiʻi’s coastal plants are highly variable in salinity tolerance, emphasizing the need for urgent conservation actions.

🔗 doi.org/10.1007/s004...

Sensitivity to elevated salinity in coastal dune plants - Oecologia

Coastal dune plants provide critical ecosystem and cultural services, which are severely threatened by ongoing climate change and sea-level rise. Coastal habitats account for a disproportionate extent...

doi.org

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Dustin Wolkis @dustinwolkis.bsky.social · Jun 30

Honored and elated to receive the 2025 Center for Plant Conservation Star Award. Read more about the award and watch the video that brought tears to my eyes in the June 2025 CPC Newsletter;

saveplants.org/2025-star-aw...

Contributing to Hawaiian plant conservation is the honor of a lifetime.

2025 Star Award: Dr. Dustin Wolkis - Center for Plant Conservation

[...]Read More...

saveplants.org

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Reposted by Dustin Wolkis

Botany One @botany.one · Jun 12

Meet the botanist, Karolina Heyduk. She works at the University of Connecticut, where she investigates photosynthesis, the process where plants use sunlight to convert carbon dioxide and water into food. So why would she in the lab at midnight?

wp.me/pdRZhH-lY2

#Botany #PlantScience 🧪

Karolina Heyduk, taking a selfie on fieldwork. She is in a dry landscape with brown, parched vegetation. Above is a strikingly blue sky. She is looking into the camera, wearing a cactus-themed top, a light brown sun hat and sunglasses. In one lens of the sunglasses is a reflection of her hand taking the selfie. I've remembered I'm colour-blind, so take any references to brown with a pinch of salt.

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Reposted by Dustin Wolkis

The Sceptical Botanist @timentwisle.bsky.social · Apr 3

My new book is in press! Due out later this year (August 2025; CSIRO Publishing) but you can pre-order...
www.publish.csiro.au/book/8151/#a...

The Sceptical Botanist

Do trees talk to one another? Can a plant use up the oxygen in a room while you sleep? What is a native plant and what is a weed? Are some plants truly immortal? Through 50 beautifully crafted essays...

www.publish.csiro.au

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Dustin Wolkis @dustinwolkis.bsky.social · May 24

🌿 Out now in @bioone.bsky.social American Fern Journal we explore #herbarium specimens as a potential source of viable spores for #conservation of rare #Hawaiian #ferns.

🔬 Germination occurred in 24 specimens representing 8 of 9 included species.

@ninaronsted.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1640/0002...

Figure 1 from Sezate, E., Aguraiuja, R., Demotta, M., Flynn, T., Shadle, S., Wolkis, D., Wood, K. R., & Rønsted, N. (2025). Herbarium specimens as a potential source of viable spores for conservation of rare and endangered Hawaiian ferns. American Fern Journal, 115(2), 126–141.
https://doi.org/10.1640/0002-8444-115.2.126.

Pellaea ternifolia (Cav.) Link, a native Hawaiian fern species successfully germinated from herbarium specimens in this project. a) Habitat, Wailua Iki, Maui, photo by Ken Wood, b) Herbarium specimen Ken Wood 10960 (PTBG), collected in 2004, c) Gametophyte, photo by Emily Sezate, d) First leaf, photo by Emily Sezate, e) Mature sporophyte, photo by Emily Sezate, f) Locality map of Kaua‘i, Hawai‘i, produced by Ben Nyberg.
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Dustin Wolkis @dustinwolkis.bsky.social · May 16

Thank you @caordonezparra.bsky.social !

Dustin Wolkis @dustinwolkis.bsky.social · May 14

Thank you @droseta-intermedia.bsky.social !

Dustin Wolkis @dustinwolkis.bsky.social · May 13

⭐ I am honored and humbled to receive the 2025 Center for Plant #Conservation Star #Award.

🌺 This award honors those who demonstrate the concern, cooperation, and personal investment needed to conserve our imperiled native plants.

🌟 Learn more and watch the video at;
saveplants.org/about-us/cpc...

Dustin Wolkis holding the 2025 Center for Plant Conservation Star Award on 1 May 2025 at Missouri Botanical Garden, St Louis, MO, US.

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Dustin Wolkis @dustinwolkis.bsky.social · May 2

🌱 #Postdoc opportunity in the #Conservation and Sustainable #Horticulture Lab (myweb.fiu.edu/akhoddam/res...) within the International Center for Tropical Botany at the Kampong (environment.fiu.edu/ictb/) @fiu.bsky.social

✏️ Apply to #Job Opening ID 534749 at careers.fiu.edu by June 10, 2025.

Research – Conservation & Sustainable Horticulture Lab

myweb.fiu.edu

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Dustin Wolkis @dustinwolkis.bsky.social · Apr 30

🗞️Check out my popular article in "The Bulletin: The Newsletter of the @ntbgarden.bsky.social"

🌱I discuss a multi-strategy approach to conserving Hawaiian seeds by highlighting 5 different groups of species; #Metrosideros, #Pritchardia, #Hibiscus, #Melicope, #Campanulaceae.

ntbg.org/stories/savi...

Exploring NTBG's Multi-Strategy Approach to Saving Hawaiian Seeds - National Tropical Botanical Garden

By Dr. Dustin Wolkis, Scientific Curator of Seed Conservation One of NTBG’s core activities is […]

ntbg.org

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Reposted by Dustin Wolkis

GBIF @gbif.org · Apr 22

🦎 Are you a master's or PhD student ? 🎓

The 2025 Graduate Researchers Award will provide 💰 2x€5,000 prizes highlighting research and discovery in biodiversity informatics by graduate students whose studies rely on GBIF-mediated data. 🧬

Learn more 🔗 gbif.link/gra-2025

peach coloured graphic with a drawing of a salamander and text that reads 2025 graduate researchers award

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Dustin Wolkis @dustinwolkis.bsky.social · Apr 17

Laulea Miike's #pollen #conservation #internship
@ntbgarden.bsky.social helps preserve the endangered plant species, Ochrosia kauaiensis ( #Apocynaceae ), on Kauaʻi!

news.willamette.edu/library/2025...

@willametteu.bsky.social

Student research helps preserve endangered plant species on Kaua’i

With funding and faculty support from Willamette, Laulea Miike BS’27 conducts essential conservation research on her home island.

news.willamette.edu

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Reposted by Dustin Wolkis

International Society for Seed Science @intlsocseedsci.bsky.social · Apr 3

Probit analysis is key to modelling seed viability loss over time. A new Methods paper in #SeedScienceResearch led by @dustinwolkis.bsky.social provides R code for fitting survival curves and assessing seed longevity under different storage conditions! #Botany #PlantScience 🧪

Seed longevity: analysing post-storage germination data in R to fit the viability equation | Seed Science Research | Cambridge Core

Seed longevity: analysing post-storage germination data in R to fit the viability equation

doi.org

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Reposted by Dustin Wolkis

Botany One @botany.one · Mar 22

Contrary to popular belief, pollen is quite alive. Dr. Wolkis explains this and other botanical misconceptions while documenting his journey from apothecary to seed conservation.

Read more:

Dustin Wolkis: the "kuleana" of working with the native Hawaiian Flora

Botany One interviews Dr Dustin Wolkis, a passionate for seed conservation working in one of the most biodiverse yet...

wp.me

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Dustin Wolkis @dustinwolkis.bsky.social · Mar 23

Why Did Elon Musk Go After Bunkers Full of Seeds? www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...

Opinion | Why Did Elon Musk Go After Bunkers Full of Seeds?

Gene banks are like a survivalist cache: our nation’s safeguard against all future challenges to growing the food we need.

www.nytimes.com

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Reposted by Dustin Wolkis

Simon Parkin @simonparkin.bsky.social · Oct 16

My new book, The Forbidden Garden is out in the US this week. It’s the true story of the botanists who worked at the world’s first seed bank during the siege of Leningrad. A lovely review from the NYT today describes it as ‘ethically haunted’: t.co/risSuDm2Qt

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Reposted by Dustin Wolkis

National Tropical Botanical Garden @ntbgarden.bsky.social · Mar 20

Be sure to check out this interview with NTBG's very own @dustinwolkis.bsky.social on his passion for seed conservation and research. Great interview!

Botany One @botany.one · Mar 18

Introducing Dr. Dustin Wolkis and his vital work preserving Hawaii's endemic seeds. With 90% of local plants found nowhere else and extinction rates soaring, his research on seed longevity offers hope.

#Botany #PlantScience 🧪

Read more: wp.me/pdRZhH-lKY

A bearded man peers into a confocal microscope.

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Reposted by Dustin Wolkis

Carlos A. Ordóñez-Parra @caordonezparra.bsky.social · Mar 19

My latest interview for @botany.one features the amazing work by @dustinwolkis.bsky.social in Hawaiʻi.

By working on seed germination and conservation, Dustin aims to fulfil his personal duty of preserving one of the most diverse islands worldwide #Botany #PlantScience 🧪 botany.one/2025/03/dust...

Dustin Wolkis: the "kuleana" of working with the native Hawaiian Flora

Botany One interviews Dr Dustin Wolkis, a passionate for seed conservation working in one of the most biodiverse yet endangered islands.

botany.one

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