Grape Expectations *

Environmental & Science Education, STEM, Sustainability, Biodiversity, Agriculture

Ed Hessler 

The January 31, 2022 "Where I Work" (Nature) features applied ecologist Geoff Gurr (Charles Stuart University, Australia) who is working on eco-friendly approaches to growing grapes. The planet's humans drink wine!, e.g., 234 million hectolitres (Mhl)** in 2020, the lowest since 2002, according to estimates by OIV, "the scientific and technical reference of the vine and wine world."

He and his colleagues conduct experimental research on ways to "reduce the population of pests by encouraging predators."

These are short reads in which the research is briefly described. At the outset Gurr mentions that he sometimes dodges "the odd brown snake." The Wiki entry notes that it is "considered the world's second-most venomous land snake."

*h/t and thanks for the title from Benjamin Plackett's profile about Dr. Geoff Gurr.

**In US measurement, this is 196,242,095 barrels where 1 barrel = 42 gallons