Videos

Chris Martine has been generating educational YouTube content since 2008, most of it as part of the “Plants are Cool, Too!” (PACT) project co-produced with Paul Frederick and Tim Kramer. The first PACT episode was posted in 2011 thanks to funding from the Botanical Society of America, with subsequent episodes funded through grants and by the institutions of the scientists featured in the videos. The goal has been the same from the beginning: to put a spotlight on awesome plants and the cool people who study them. The videos have been viewed on YouTube more than 200,000 times; and PACT has been used in hundreds of classrooms (both K-12 and at colleges/universities) as well as in museums and other science-based educational settings. Interested in using them for teaching? We’ve indexed them by subject below.

Skip to Videos
  • Legend of the Predator-proof Fence

    Legend of the Predator-proof Fence

    The first predator-proof management fence installed in the US is helping to prevent species extinction in Hawaii. 

  • Nature in New York City

    Nature in New York City

    The largest cities on the planet are home to millions of humans, but there is still plenty of nature to discover and appreciate in these urban habitats… if you know where to look. Shot on location at Inwood Hill Park, Manhattan.

  • Undergraduate Research: How Today's Students are Doing Real Science

    Undergraduate Research: How Today's Students are Doing Real Science

    What's it like to do undergraduate research in college? How do you find a professor to work with? Is spending your summer working in a lab worthwhile? This student-produced mini-documentary follows the paths of Bucknell University's botanical research group from their work in the lab, greenhouse, and field to their presentations at the international Botany conference. 

  • Rappelling Scientists Find Rare Species Hiding for 100+ Years

    Rappelling Scientists Find Rare Species Hiding for 100+ Years

    A team of biologists drops off a cliff to learn more about one rare plant, but ends up discovering something completely unexpected with the help of science Twitter: white alumroot (Heuchera alba). 

  • Botany Student Protects Rare Plant with Genetics and Kayaks

    Botany Student Protects Rare Plant with Genetics and Kayaks

    Even plants we use in gardens can be rare in nature – and student Cheyenne Moore is doing her best to help protect one of the most popular perennial wildflowers in its native habitat in Pennsylvania. Join her on a kayak trip on the Allegheny River as she assesses the status of the blue false indigo (Baptisia australis) in unusual formations called scour prairies.

  • National Tropical Botanical Garden and rare plant protection

    National Tropical Botanical Garden and rare plant protection

    Behind-the-scenes view of the plant conservation pipeline at the National Tropical Botanical Garden on Kaua’i, where plant people are working every day to protect the plants of Hawai’i and the rest of the global tropics. Special focus on the importance of conservation horticulture.