Bio { Cultural } Diversity on Scoop.it

Bio { Cultural } Diversity is the new site I set up this week at Scoop.it as Ive been running out of time to blog all the excellent articles Ive been finding. Scoop-it is not unlike Pinterest in terms of the simplicity of saving something to archive or share.

Back on the agenda as the year narrows towards the close is the book I have been wanting to write ever since I returned from the UK Research Trip last November. In 2010 I put together a self-published title called 'homage to the seed' in time for the end of year exhibition on conclusion of the Brisbane Botanic Gardens Residency. 68 pages in all it was rather speedily assembled. That this slim publication brought positive responses and led to some wonderful opportunities I certainly didn't expect.

It always seemed the there'd be another book...  still I made a promise to myself to not even think of doing it in that maddeningly brief time-frame of 6 weeks the first book had. I plan to allow all the necessary stages to be fully addressed and checked over.

Too much time can present a very different kind of problem but stalling the book project, commenced in early August, whilst in Cairns on Residency Sept?Oct provided thinking space and new input which found me settling on the original idea for the book...only this time round ideas were a lot more fleshed out and the sense of how to proceed as well.



                      Read the post on the Residency Exhibition here at the Studio archives blog.

Scoop-it seems to be an increasingly popular vehicle for storing dense articles on Plant Science, Biodiversity and other finds.


Examples of rescooped articles on my Scoop.it site:

Rescooped by Homage to the Seed from Agricultural Biodiversity

 Rescoop

Benefits of agricultural biodiversity explored

From agro.biodiver.se - October 31, 10:50 PM

 Two recent papers — one a report of a long-term experiment, the other a literature review — point to the benefits of diversity in agricultural systems.

Via Luigi Guarino

Rescooped by Homage to the Seed from Agricultural Biodiversity

 Rescoop

Armenia and Georgia (2013): International Symposium on Fruit Culture and its Traditional Knowledge along Silk Road Countries

From www.ishs.org - October 31, 10:36 PM

 http://www.ishs.org/news - International Society for Horticultural Science (One of more interesting titles >> International Symposium on Fruit Culture & its Traditional Knowledge along Silk Road http://t.co/04gKiHop...)...

Via Luigi Guarino

Scooped by Homage to the Seed

 Rescoop

Sicily: Cuisine, Culture and Tradition: The Art of Eating Well In Sicily: Anatomy of a Meal

From sicilycuisine.blogspot.fr (via @mikevolkov20) -October 31, 8:53 AM

 Sicily: Cuisine, Culture and Tradition: The Art of Eating Well In Sicily: Anatomy of a Meal.

This link below is from Kew.org...  a 5 minute video on the fact a fifth of all plant species are under threat... with Dr Stephen Hopper, outgoing director of Kew Gardens.

Rescooped by Homage to the Seed from Plant Science

 Rescoop

Plants need a 'new deal' to stem their decline, warns Kew director

From www.guardian.co.uk - October 29, 11:09 PM

The economic and environmental benefits of plants must not be overlooked, says the outgoing director of Kew Gardens.

Via Rob Dawson, Ruth Bastow

Now to sign off with some Pinterest pins...

sophie munns artworks

103 pins

seeds, pods, capsules

466 pins

Its been fascinating to find how dimensional one's online community can be at the various sites ... some certainly show up at several different sites.

I must also acknowledge any followers who've joined in here and I've missed saying hello!

thinking about seeds in the context of mining developments

Whist at the Millennium Seedbank in the UK last October I had an interesting conversation with a number of staff over the three week stay...

my ever expanding collection of journals and artist books

One of the people who left me thinking was Vanessa Suttcliffe who's work at the Kew Millennium Seedbank has seen her involved in the following projects:

• Collecting the Flora of Bulgaria
• Collecting the Flora of Kyrgyzstan
• Ex situ Conservation of the Flora of the Caucasus
• Improving the Identification, Handling and Storage of ‘Difficult’ Seeds
• MSB Seed Banking Worldwide
• Millennium Seed Bank China Programme
• Investigating Seed Drying: the Development of Low Technology Drying Options and Methods for Measuring Seed Moisture Status
• Maximising Seed Quality: Maturity and Post-harvest Studies

One area we discussed was the Difficult Seeds Project in Africa ...do read abut that if you have a chance! Another issue that has kept me thinking involves MSB training for Mining companies who undertake Land Stewardship by setting up pre-comencement seed conservation and post-mining restoration work. Vanessa detailed the processes available to companies in the work of Land Stewardship but I could only gather that uptake is not what it could be.

Months later I wonder how often and how many companies actually choose to put into practice this kind of undertaking... expecially in the light of all the noise on CSG mining and general expansion of the industry in this state and beyond. It seemed for a brief moment there might be movement in the direction of sustainability in that industry ... and certainly some countries have done just that. Practices and commitments have been made to foster improvements in this sector but I for one would like to see evidence of it happening in this state... and across the country. At present the Seed lab I worked in during my 2010 residency is not open due to lack of funding.

Given mining expansion in Queensland it seems the very least that could be done is the critical work of collecting wild species from across the state in the effort to monitor seed viability and such. This leaves me questioning what measures are in place to scientifically monitor the changing environment. From what I have learnt to date seeds are actually an incredibly useful and important measure.

Politics and Money, jobs and economy are the big buzzwords... but in terms of longevity... a longer sense of the NOW... what will stack up. This has to be considered far more earnestly ... and might I say far more honestly!

I'll leave you will these images... bye for now!

Drawing with children one day we innovated with our drawing tools

this tiny Casuarina branch became an ink pen... I often use twigs for the earthy Quality they give to linework.