The challenge of keeping science alive during the COVID-19 shutdowns
Campus shutdowns mean researchers must be classified as essential personnel to tend collections, like these fungus-colonized plants. (Cameron Stauder/)Matt Kasson is an assistant Professor of Plant Pathology and Mycology, West Virginia University. Brian Lovett is a Postdoctoral Researcher in Mycology, West Virginia University. Rita Rio is a Professor of Biology, West Virginia University. This story originally featured on The Conversation. Read PopSci’s coverage on disruptions in lab work here.During World War II, a devoted group of botanists guarded the world’s oldest collection of plants over the 28-month-long siege of Leningrad. Nearly a dozen of them starved to death, valuing the survival of the collection over their temptation to eat seeds.These scientists at the Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry in what is today St. Petersburg, Russia displayed extraordinary dedication to ensure an invaluable biological collection had a future, even when they did not.This tragic story resonates with many scientists today who...