2 days ago
UMaine professor wins $1M grant to take a new look at old plants
Jun. 9—A University of Maine professor has won a $1 million National Science Foundation award to develop faster, cheaper ways to study plants by developing technology to analyze the 390 million specimens already stored in archived collections around the world.
Jose "Dudu" Meireles, an assistant professor of plant evolution and systematics, will use the grant to develop an open source computer model that integrates genetic analysis and spectral imaging to assess the chemical makeup and function of collected plant leaves, ranging from nitrogen levels to defense mechanisms.
The five-year grant supports Meireles' plan to unlock centuries of hidden data stored in the world's herbariums, which hold vast archives of preserved plant specimens. Studying collected plants will save time and money by dispensing with a lot of field work and lab tests while protecting the plants themselves from destruction.
"It's sometimes hard to see the value in these places because it's a giant room full of dried plants," said Meireles, a Brazilian native who joined the University of Maine in 2019. "But the bottom line is we can do a lot of cutting-edge science using those specimens."
Meireles' approach combines advanced computing with a technique called spectral phenotyping, which uses light to measure plant traits much like airport scanners do with luggage. Multiple traits can be measured with one test without spending time and money to find the plants in the field or running multiple laboratory tests.
The result? A dramatic increase in the speed and scale of biodiversity research. If his methods are widely adopted, Meireles estimates that scientists could triple the amount of data they collect on plant function each year. He plans to teach these to University of Maine undergraduates in a class starting in the fall of 2027.
Students at UMaine will work alongside him in the lab, gaining hands-on experience with cutting-edge tools. The Meireles laboratory will also collaborate with other UMaine departments to produce a public biodiversity exhibit, aiming to bridge the gap between science and society, that will be displayed at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens.
Meireles said his methods won't eliminate the need for field work, but instead will complement that boots-on-the-ground research to help understand how whole plant communities in an area adapt to environmental change over time. Just next week he plans to hike up Mount Washington to collect field measurements.
He plans to hold workshops across the U.S. and Latin America to help train other plant researchers on how to use the computer models and spectral analysis to plumb the secrets of the collections they already have on hand. Over 100 people will have had the opportunity to learn the new methods by the end of the grant.
"This will make biodiversity science faster, cheaper and more globally comprehensive," Meireles said.
Meireles' team will partner with curators and researchers from New York Botanical Gardens' Steere Herbarium, The Field Museum in Chicago and Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens in Boothbay and herbaria in Columbia and Brazil to develop protocols for the work, publicize it and train others on how to do it.
"Every herbarium specimen has a story to tell, even specimens that are decades or centuries old," said Emily Sessa, the director of the Steere Herbarium. "This work will create an exciting new avenue for herbarium collections to inform us about biodiversity and new tools for collecting data on important plant traits at large scales."
The implications stretch far beyond academia. Industries from agriculture to pharmaceuticals rely on plant-based products and services. A deeper understanding of how plants function and adapt, especially in the face of climate change, could lead to new crops, medicines and conservation strategies.
"There are over 300,000 species of flowering plants, and we only know how a tiny fraction work," Meireles said. "They hold a huge library of solutions that evolution came up with over a very long time. And so far, we've only been able to harness a tiny portion of that."
With this new funding, Meireles plans to show just how much those dried herbarium plants still have to teach us.
Copy the Story Link
