#47 Elevating plant life in conservation research and practice with Jenny McCune

In this episode we are chatting with plant community ecologist, Professor Jenny McCune of the University of Lethbridge. The goal of Jenny's research is to determine what factors drive the patterns and long-term dynamics of plant community diversity and composition within landscapes dominated by humans. Her research group uses field surveys of forests, grasslands, or savannahs to identify which plant species are present and compare this data to data from past surveys, or from paleoecological data. These comparisons allow her group to assess how plant communities have changed, and how those changes are related to human activities or natural disturbances like storms and fires. Jenny’s research also focuses on the conservation of plant species at risk.With Jenny we talked about where her passion for plants comes from and why plants seem to be underrepresented in conservation teaching and practice. We also revisit the concept of ecological integrity in the context of Jenny’s work, which involves the relationship between conservation translocation and the integrity of local ecosystems. A lot of Jenny’s recent research is focused on post-fire ecological recovery, and she shared some findings from her work on this in Western Canada. We wrapped up our chat with some reflections on how we teach conservation, and what strategies can be effective for conveying the complexity of environmental management in Canada. Jenny's website: https://jlmccune.weebly.com/