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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
FEBUARY 6, 2009
CONTACT
Leeann Lavin: 718-623-7289, leeannlavin@bbg.org
Kate Blumm: 718-623-7241, kateblumm@bbg.org
Experience the Excitement and Adventure of Plant Exploration in the Remote and Exotic Areas of Papua New Guinea!
Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Dr. Susan Pell leads the field research team and shares her amazing stories on BBG's first-ever web-based diary
bbg.org/blogs/expedition.
BROOKLYN, NY—FEBUARY 6, 2009— Outside it may look like a snow globe for much of the continental United States, and thoughts of escaping to a tropical jungle may sound like paradise right about now. But the first botanical survey of the three main islands of the Papua New Guinea Louisiade Archipelago in 50 years is serious work.
Dr. Susan Pell, Brooklyn Botanic Garden's (BBG) molecular plant systematist and laboratory manager is leading a field re'earch team surveying the flora of the remote areas of Papua New Guinea (PNG). At BBG, Dr. Pell's primary work is to reconstruct the evolutionary relationships of plants by sequencing their DNA. Her principal research focuses on the cashew family (Anacardiaceae), which includes mango, pistachio, poison ivy, poison oak, and sumac, as well as many other species found around the world. Dr. Pell was selected as a Wings WorldQuest Foundation explorer for this expedition. The foundation is the leading resource and advocate for women explorers worldwide.
The five-week expedition has been more than five years in the planning. And according to Dr. Pell, it is a dream come true. She and her five-member team set out in early January to work with local naturalists to survey the flora of the area, compile a conservation assessment, and to look for members of the frankincense and myrrh plant family, specifically. Their exploration and study of the three main islands of the Louisiade Archipelago, Misima, Rossel, and Sudest, is key: These islands are home to many species found nowhere else in the world. Data from the project will become an integral part of an online tree flora database of New Guinea, and new plant specimens will be housed in the PNG National Herbarium.
If dreaming about what a modern-day Romancing the Stone or Raiders of the Lost Ark adventure ignites the imagination, readers will find Dr. Pell's trip a gripping, frontline reality show that imbues her web diary with all the challenges and curiosities that only a scientist can capture and share. And the stunning photos showcase a window on a part of the world few have ever seen, especially in such a personal way. Dr. Pell's narrative about going to school in PNG, written especially for her niece's class, which is following the blog, surely delivers on the description of the internet as global village.
For example, Pell noted in a recent blog posting the impact of invasive species:
Biological disaster can result when humans intentionally (or not) introduce organisms to areas in which they are not native. One of the worst and most studied examples is the cane toad (Bufo marinus). This toad is native to Central and South America and was introduced to eat beetle pests in sugarcane fields. It was first introduced to Puerto Rico and then to Hawaii, Australia, and other parts of the Pacific where sugarcane is grown.
And another describes how the scientists go about selecting and collecting the plants they will bring back for further study:
We collect most plants when they are flowering or fruiting (i.e., fertile), because these characteristics make them much easier to identify. However, when we find something very unusual, like a possible Rosselia, we collect it without reproductive parts (i.e., sterile). We will compare the collected the leaves and stems with those that were collected by previous expeditions when we return to New York. I will also sequence three genes from this collection and compare them with the sequences of other members in the frankincense and myrrh family
Can you hear me now?
One may ask, How can this be possible? There isn't a cell tower in sight in the PNG jungle!
The blog or web diary was made possible by the BBG web team, led by Dave Allen. “It's interesting how common and easy a blog is to create—everyone's doing it, it seems,” noted Allen. “And yet in this case, it was the complete reverse. We had the challenge of producing this blog with some of the most primitive technology transmissions—such as the satellite phone Dr. Pell had to use in the remote areas of PNG. Plus we had to collaborate on 'daily' postings many time zones apart.” Allen described how the web team and Dr. Pell laid out an operations plan before she left. The team established a separate, dedicated phone number for her to call, where she could phone in a diary entry whenever she was able to coordinate all the necessary transmission technology, such as it was. Joni Blackburn, BBG's copyeditor, manually transcribes the audio messages to text for blog posting. This labor-intensive exercise means listening to each transmission dozens of times to catch Dr. Pell's fast-paced diary entries through the hisses and crackles of transmission conditions that range from poor to impossible.
After transcribing the day's entry, the BBG web team uses photographs and videos sent by Dr. Pell as well as links to related content to amplify Dr. Pell's posts. The “Things We're Seeing” postings are fun and informative. For example, “Things We're Seeing: Leeches” features Dr. Pell's photo of a leech wound on the face of fellow scientist John Mitchell, from NYBG! Others include “Betel Nut,” “Tree-Kangaroos,” and “Tropical Tree Trunks” and “More Birds!”
Dr. Pell's team is outfitted with a GPS tracking device, and the BBG web team used the signal to update the blog map denoting the team's trek through the jungle. The team made the technology decision to refresh only every couple of days, as it was too much information at some points and too sporadic at others. At one point, Allen and the team hadn't gotten a signal for several days, and they started to get worried. Fortunately, the signal came back online on the fifth day. Before she left, they instructed Dr. Pell to upload the video and imaging information to an FTP site. They produced an RSS and Atom feed for visitors to the site. But as the team's exploration drove them ever deeper into the jungle, even the satellite phone wasn't proving much of an aid. But Allen made the best of a bad situation: “Initially, the transmissions included background or ambient noise, such as the boat engines. Later in the trip, Dr. Pell's messages became scratchy and choppy and in some cases dropped off completely—and I got the idea to post an audio transmission just that way. That in itself is part of the story—a relevant diary entry that was made possible by the 'twisted technology'!” Allen explained.
The BBG web team and Dr. Pell's science team have both experienced a unique adventure, and thanks to their efforts, all the world can benefit from the thrill of discovery.
Support funding for this plant expedition was made by Conservation International and the Gordon & Betty Moore Foundation. The expedition has been certified a Wings WorldQuest Flag Expedition.