Description

Class Summary

Leaves exist in a wide variety of often unrecognizable forms. They are the salad on your plate, and the celery and onions too. In some cases, the leaves produced by juvenile and adult plants are so different that they seem to be from different species. And then, of course, there is autumn, when leaves in Pennsylvania and other northern states get rid of their chlorophyll and turn yellow and red. This course describes some of the many identities of a leaf, and how these identities are created by genes and the environment.

About the Instructor

Scott Poethig is the John H. and Margaret B. Fassitt emeritus Professor of Biology at the University of Pennsylvania. His laboratory has studied many aspects of plant development, but his primary interest is the mechanism of the juvenile-to-adult transition during shoot development. Dr. Poethig obtained his Ph.D. from Yale University and received post-doctoral training at Stanford University and the University of Missouri. He received the Lindback Award for distinguished teaching from Penn and has served on many advisory and editorial boards. He is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences.