Saving Exceptional Plants with Dr. Valerie Pence

Talking Pawpaw with Rob Brannan, Food Scientist

Hello Pawpaw! Welcome to Between the Leaves! In this episode, we talk about Ohio’s native tree fruit with Rob Brannan, professor of Food and Nutrition Sciences at Ohio University. Have you enjoyed Pawpaw’s intoxicating fragrance? Eaten its custardy fruit?  Made beer, salsa or mousse with it? If not, you’re not alone. Despite its ancient origins and tropical fruit characteristics, the Pawpaw is not widely known or cultivated. Rob explains the challenges in commercialization of Pawpaw and highlights their similarities with other common fruits. He talks about ongoing efforts to reintroduce Pawpaw to the USDA Nutrient Database and the potential for growth in the Pawpaw industry in the U.S. and around the world.

Let’s Eat! Seasonal Food, Local Farms & Healthy Communities with Bryn Mooth

Summer’s ripe zucchini and tomatoes are coming in, bringing with them some of the year’s best eating. To honor the season, we talked with Bryn Mooth, food and wellness writer, and editor of Edible Ohio Valley Magazine about Cincinnati’s food culture, area farms and farmers, and the benefits of eating locally raised fruits, vegetables and meats. Why shop at your local farmers market? How are local farmers doing, and what is regenerative agriculture? How does eating local, seasonal produce affect our health? What is the environmental impact of our food choices? How do community gardens support food accessibility and better diets for all? Listen in, then go visit your local community garden or farmers market to do your own mouth-watering research!

Bees, Native Plants, and Biodiversity with Brandon Reynolds

Welcome to the spring episode of Between the Leaves. Our guest is Brandon Reynolds, who’s talking with host Meg Hanrahan about bees and biodiversity. He learned beekeeping before starting B the Keeper, a landscape company that focuses on native plants. Follow his journey from advertising to beekeeping to becoming a landscaper, restorationist and activist. Brandon highlights the importance of preserving native bee populations and creating pollinator habitats, discusses how native plants help to attract and sustain biodiversity, and talks about his work with community groups to achieve these goals.

Saving Exceptional Plants with Dr. Valerie Pence

As the Lloyd Library’s exhibition, “Flora Mania,” celebrates flowering plants, host Meg Hanrahan speaks to Dr. Valerie Pence. Dr. Pence is the Director of Plant Research at the Center for Conservation and Research of Endangered Wildlife (CREW) at the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden. Her work focuses on applying in vitro methods and cryobiotechnologies to the conservation of plant species that cannot be conserved in conventional seed banks, species known as exceptional species. In a world where 45% of plant species are threatened with extinction, listen as Dr. Pence talks about her work to save them.

A Foray Into Fungi with Dr. Nicholas Money

In this Between the Leaves episode, we explore the world of fungi with renowned mycologist Dr. Nicholas Money. The scientific study of fungi is evolving, and new areas of research are having impacts in areas of human health, natural medicine, forest ecology and more. Dr. Money discusses some of the leading-edge research, and helps us glimpse a multitude of ways that fungi interact with human and non-human life on Earth. What is the mycobiome? Are mushrooms medicinal? How is fungi being used to treat depression, anxiety and other mental illness? How do fungi support healthy trees and forests? Listen to learn more!