A new podcast collaboration with the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh will enlighten listeners about the relationship between plants and humans.
The miniseries by Science Communicator Aaron de Verés is called Plants and our Health and it begins on 10 February.
Plants are the basis of our food system, countless medicines and everyday products, and almost every food chain and natural system on the planet. Yet despite their importance, they are still often overlooked. The goal is to explore and celebrate the amazing world of plants and their contributions to human health and wellbeing. Speaking with a range of fascinating guests, this series features inspiring stories about how plants have transformed individual lives and our society.
It is available from the University of Edinburgh’s Not Another Science Podcast and the 10 part series begins on 10 February. There will be two episodes in the first week and one each week after that.
Aaron (22) from Forfar, Angus, explained that the goal of Plants & Our Health was to turn important but tricky conversations about our relationship with nature into easy, interesting and engaging episodes. He said: “We are putting a range of fascinating guest experts at the heart of the podcast to make this happen.
“The miniseries is a perfect starting point for anyone curious about science, plants or their own health and wellbeing. The people I’ve interviewed for the series have fascinating stories to share that really highlight how important plants are in our lives and what amazing things they can do.”
Aaron said: “We used to go camping and exploring in places like St Cyrus beach, Pitlochry and Cortachy. That time spent outside definitely helped me enjoy and value nature from an early age, which eventually led me to pursue a career where I could advocate for its preservation.
“I would love for the series to be an entertaining and educational resource and through the platform provide a new realm for discussion.”
Aaron’s speakers include Elaine Bradley – Project Development Executive for Nature Prescriptions at RSPB, General Practitioner – Dr Louise Bailey and his first guest RBGE’s own Regius Keeper Simon Milne, who helped in his quest to discuss plants in a thought-provoking way.
The fact that Simon lives in the Angus area adds a local finesse to the debut of the podcast. Throughout the weeks listeners can look forward to rich, enticing and prompting discussions.
Aaron said: “Each guest is different and brought their individual thoughts to the themes in question. They each showed genuine interest in speaking to broad audiences and inspiring wider interest in the natural environment.”
The podcast can be accessed through links on the RBGE website, Spotify, Apple and other available podcast apps from 12 February.
Aaron de Verés is a University of Edinburgh graduate (Biological Sciences, Ecology) a Science Communicator intern at RBGE. After graduating he secured funding from the Robertson Trust Graduate Placement Scheme to work with RBGE on developing a range of media materials. He then managed to extend this placement with funding support from the British Ecological Society to develop this podcast mini-series.
The miniseries in collaboration with RBGE is a part of the ‘Not Another Science Podcast’ (NASP), that is run by volunteers, most of whom are members of the student society ‘Edinburgh University Science Magazine’ (also known as EuSci).
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
