Publicity and Media Coverage
Selected media articles about Lena Struwe and her lab group’s research, education, and outreach
2018 – Rutgers citizen-scientists set out on a ‘Bioblitz’, BTN LiveBIG, link [Personal Bioblitz]
2018 – Many rare animal and plant species found at Rutgers’ campuses, NJ101.5, link [Flora and Fauna of Rutgers University]
2018 – The Mystery of the Sex-Changing Striped Maple Trees, Smithsonian Magazine, link [Acer pensylvanicum, striped maple, Sapindaceae]
2016 – Strychnos electrii, first asterid found in neotropical amber (2016), Nature Plants, link [Strychnos electri, Loganiaceae]
2016 – Extinct plant species discovered in amber, BBC News, link [Strychnos electri, Loganiaceae]
2016 – Newly named prehistoric plant connected to poison and food, CNN, link [Strychnos electri, Loganiaceae]
2016 – Ancient Poisonous Flower Preserved In Amber Looks Dangerously Delicious, Gizmodo, link [Strychnos electri, Loganiaceae]
2016 – Extinct, Toxic Flowers Discovered Fossilized in Amber, Newsweek, link [Strychnos electri, Loganiaceae]
2016 – Beautiful amber fossil flower reveals plant history of New World, New Scientist, link [Strychnos electri, Loganiaceae]
2016 – Rutgers sleuth finds new plant species locked in ancient amber, Philadelphia Inquirer, philly.com, link [Strychnos electri, Loganiaceae]
2016 – Deadly beauty: Amber-entombed flower may have been toxic, Reuters, link [Strychnos electri, Loganiaceae]
2016 – New Species of Prehistoric Flower Discovered Preserved in Amber, Smithsonian.org link [Strychnos electri, Loganiaceae]
2016 – An ancient flower trapped in amber, The New Yorker, link [Strychnos electri, Loganiaceae]
2016 – 15 Million-Year-Old Flower Found ‘Perfectly Preserved’ in Amber, Time magazine, link [Strychnos electri, Loganiaceae]
2016 – Ancient, unknown species of flower found locked away in amber, Washington Post, link [Strychnos electri, Loganiaceae]
2016 – Botanists find new ways to inspire students, Native Plant News, link [botanical education]
2016 – Whither botanical accuracy?, Annals of Botany Blog, link [Botanical Accuracy]
2015 – Extreme weeds of Parking Lots, episode 6, video in the Plants are Cool, Too series made by Chris Martine, Bucknell University, link [weedy plants]
2012 – Siri Screws Up Identifying Poisonous Plants In New Apple Ad, Business Insider, link [Botanical Accuracy]
2012 – New species of genuflecting plant buries its own seeds, BBC News, link [Spigelia genuflexa, Loganiaceae]
2012 – New to Nature Species No. 81: Spigelia genuflexa, The Guardian, link [Spigelia genuflexa, Loganiaceae]
Press Releases and Rutgers News
2023 – In its 10th Anniversary Year, Personal Bioblitz breaks records!, Rutgers Newsroom, link [Personal Bioblitz]
2022 – Ninth Annual Personal Bioblitz Results Break All Records, Again!, Rutgers Newsroom, link [Personal Bioblitz]
2022 – The Annual Personal Bioblitz Connects People with Nature – Will it Break Records Again this Year?, Rutgers Newsroom, link [Personal Bioblitz]
2020 – Know Your Backyard’s Biodiversity, Rutgers Newsroom, link [Personal Bioblitz]
2019 – Lena Struwe receives American Society of Plant Taxonomists’ 2019 Peter Raven Award for exceptional outreach to non-scientists, Rutgers Newsroom, link [botanical education and outreach]
2019 – Rutgers’ List of Campus Plants, Animals, Other Species May be First in World, Rutgers Newsroom, link, [Fauna and Flora of Rutgers Campus]
2019 – Chrysler Herbarium: A Treasure Trove of Plants from the Past, Rutgers Newsroom, link [Chrysler Herbarium]
2019 – Plants in the City: Herbaria as Lenses into the Past to Better See Our Future, Rutgers Newsroom, link [Chrysler Herbarium, urban botany]
2019 – Striped maple trees often change sexes, with females more likely to die, Rutgers/ScienceDaily, link [Acer pensylvanicum, striped maple, Sapindaceae]
2019 – Grad Student Blake-Mahmud Discovers Male Maple Species Can Sometimes Become Female, Rutgers Today, link [Acer pensylvanicum, striped maple, Sapindaceae]
2018 – Damage encourages maple species to become female, Rutgers/ScienceDaily, link [Acer pensylvanicum, striped maple, Sapindaceae]
2018 – Professor Lena Struwe launches Botany Depot – a Global Botanical Education Resource, Rutgers Newsroom, link [botanical education and outreach]
2018 – Rutgers Personal Bioblitz connects people with nature, Rutgers Today, link [Personal Bioblitz]
2018 – Bessey Teaching Award Goes to Professor Lena Struwe, Rutgers Newsroom, link
2016 – Ancient flowering plant was beautiful, but probably poisonous, Oregon State University/ScienceDaily link [Strychnos electri, Loganiaceae]
2015 – World-famous, yet nameless: Hybrid flowering dogwoods named by scientists, Pensoft/ScienceDaily, link [Cornus × rutgersensis, Cornus × elwinortonii, Cornaceae]
2011 – Amateur Botanists Discover a Genuflecting Plant in Brazil, Rutgers University, Rutgers/ScienceDaily, link [Spigelia genuflexa, Loganiaceae]
2003 – Harry Potter And The Ecuadorian Flowers: A New Species Of The Gentian Family Gets A Potteresque Name, Rutgers/ScienceDaily, link [Macrocarpaea apparata, Gentianaceae]
Other publicity and mentions
2012 – Featured in the book Drunken Botanist by Amy Stewart, Algonquin Books (including named recipe)
2005 – Featured in the book Strange New Species: Astonishing Discoveries of Life on Earth by Elin Kelsey, regarding the discovery of Macrocarpaea apparata