Photograph by William (Ned) Friedman
We live in an age of ecosystems of life threatened on a planetary scale by climate change and of genomes of life analyzed at the molecular level, unveiling our own evolutionary history and the processes that underlie all of biology. Powerful though these constructs are, if one’s views of biology,
of life, are predominantly through the lenses of ecosystems and genomes, something has been lost.
I am an organismic biologist a plant morphologist to be more precise. That means that when I think of a “unit” of biology, I am thinking about single organisms. I see
A painted maple at the Arnold Arboretum. Staff check the tree for Asian longhorn beetle each year. (Robin Lubbock/WBUR)
Through the pandemic, as museums around Boston have opened and closed their doors to visitors, there s one that never had to shut: the Arnold Arboretum.
These days there s plenty of parking along the Arborway in Jamaica Plain, and the Arboretum s wrought iron gate is wide open and welcoming. Even in the dead of winter, this living museum is alive with activity because the slow season for visitors is the best time to scout for climate threats and alien invaders.
The 281-acre botanical museum, administered by Harvard University, contains about 16,000 trees, woody shrubs and plants. It s a beautiful green island in an urban sea, says Michael Dosmann, the Arboretum s Keeper of the Living Collections.
“It was scary, said Maldonado. I thought I was going to lose my child.”
Silas has endured a lot in the last year, but after surgery, chemotherapy and radiation, Silas is now in remission and he has some exciting news. He is a Wish Kid with Make-A-Wish Connecticut.
“It has given us something to look forward to. He could pick anything he wanted to do as a family, said Steven Peyre, Silas s dad.
Silas wished for a camper for his family. He specifically requested bunk beds for him and his little sister. To go around the world!” Silas said.
Silas s parents said that he was asking every day when his wish would come true. Little did he know, it was a lot closer than he realized.