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.

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  • Plants Are Cool, Too! Episode 2 : Fossilized Forests!

    Plants Are Cool, Too! Episode 2 : Fossilized Forests!

    Most plant fossils are impressions, but the ones in Clarkia, Idaho are actual leaves encased in rock for the last 15 millions years… and we might be able to use their DNA. 

  • Desert Blooms and Marathon Moths

    Desert Blooms and Marathon Moths

    Giant hawk moths fly for miles each night in search of flower nectar -- and are thus critically important as pollinators of desert wildflowers. Plant romance by the light of the full moon at New Mexico's White Sands National Monument. 

  • Ay, Chihuahua! New Species in the Desert!

    Ay, Chihuahua! New Species in the Desert!

    What do you get when a team of biologists from Mexico and the US sets out to explore remote areas of the Chihuahuan Desert? Lots of examples of the evolution of new species on gypsum soils — and plenty of evidence that the world is still full of things to discover. 

  • Extreme Weeds of Parking Lots

    Extreme Weeds of Parking Lots

    Plants that survive in parking lots might be considered “weeds,” but they are also really great examples of extremophiles – organisms that survive, thrive, and evolve in Earth’s toughest habitats.