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I’m loving reading your outreach ideas focused on your research areas. Unfortunately, I haven’t had the opportunity yet to do in person outreach associated with my project since the Covid-19 pandemic. My research is focused on the formation of aerenchyma, channels where death or separation of cells allows gaseous exchange to occur during waterlogging in species such as barley or rice, which ultimately makes plants survive! In barley, one of the species I’m looking at, the aerenchyma is so small, a microscope is needed to really get in there and see it. However, using a stand-in species such as lotus, which has prominent aerenchyma channels present in the underwater root, can be a great way to show off aerenchyma formation on a larger scale.
Beyond my own research, in UCD, we have an evolution garden which is used to teach all ages from primary school children visiting campus to our own undergraduates how plants have evolved from being water based algae to angiosperms over millions of years.