Science Pub From Home: Focus on Orchids

Get closer than ever to delicate flowers in a favorite family: orchids. From casual orchid-lovers to professional researchers, all are welcome as Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History Curator of Malacology Daniel L. Geiger, Ph.D., turns his scanning electron microscope away from miniscule mollusks to reveal the hidden world of microorchids. Explore how the detailed examination of minute orchid flowers helps us understand broad biological topics ranging from biodiversity and reproductive isolation to conservation and pollination biology. Dr. Geiger holds an appointment as a visiting research scholar with the Huntington Botanical Gardens, and combines herbarium work with advanced scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet reflective imaging, and molecular phylogenetics.