"Plant life on Avatar's Pandora" topic of Belk Lecture

Jodie Holt is guest speaker for the annual Belk Lecture at Miami University. Holt served as the botanical consultant for James Cameron’s science fiction film “Avatar” and will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16.

Holt, professor of plant physiology and chair of the department of botany and plant sciences at the University of California, Riverside, will present “Taking Science from the Lab to the Public: Plant Life on Avatar’s Pandora” in room 125 of the psychology building. The lecture, free and open to the public, is sponsored by the department of botany.

Holt will discuss her involvement in the film and how her work provided a unique opportunity to bring her knowledge and love of plant biology to the public by way of the media.

Holt served as an expert on the vegetation of Pandora – the “Avatar” world’s lush moon whose atmosphere, though toxic to humans, supports vegetation. She coached actress Sigourney Weaver, who plays a botanist in the film, on how a botanist acts in the field and helped name and describe the plants and animals featured in video games and books that supplemented the film’s release. She also wrote a chapter on Pandora’s flora for Avatar: A Confidential Report on the Biological and Social History of Pandora (An Activist Survival Guide).

In the real world, Holt conducts research in the ecology of weedy and invasive plants to contribute to ecologically sound weed management practices.

A reception will follow the lecture. For more information contact Richard Moore at moorere@muohio.edu.