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East Stroudsburg University’s Provost’s Colloquium Series, an intellectual experience that promotes dialogue among ESU faculty, staff, students, and community, concludes for the Spring 2021 semester with a virtual presentation by Emily Rollinson, Ph.D., assistant professor, biological sciences. The presentation “Focusing the Green Blur: Cultivating Knowledge and Awareness of Plants” will take place on Wednesday, April 28 at 5:30 p.m. Access the presentation via this Zoom link: https://esu-online.zoom.us/j/94655546340

Dr. Rollinson’s presentation will discuss the importance of plant awareness in science education and public outreach and how we can cultivate increasing awareness of the plants around us. She will focus on the concept of “plant awareness disparity” (formerly known as plant blindness). This is defined as the tendency for people to ignore the plants around them or to see plants as a background “wall of green,” rather than as unique living beings.

She will discuss that although the collective awareness of plants is in decline the ongoing societal shifts in response to COVID have seen an increase in people spending time outdoors and that cultivating a personal sense of plant awareness can increase enjoyment of these outdoor spaces. She will also discuss how ESU students have gained plant awareness in biology courses.

Rollinson will demonstrate that the human disconnection from plants has material consequences - for instance, the relative lack of support for the conservation of endangered plants, or for conserving green spaces, even though access to nature is known to be beneficial for human health.

For more information about the Provost’s Colloquium Series, contact Christina McDonald, director, office of sponsored projects and research, at (570) 422-7954 or cmcdonald9@esu.edu.

‘Focusing the Green Blur’ will be topic of ESU colloquium