Allison Miller
banner
ajmiller4233.bsky.social
Allison Miller
@ajmiller4233.bsky.social
Perennial plant diversity, evolution, agriculture, conservation. Danforth Plant Science Center, Saint Louis University, MO Botanical Garden. She/her.
We had the honor of hosting Cary Fowler at the Danforth Center in St. Louis this week! It was a standing room only crowd for a sobering but inspiring conversation about global food security. You can read more about it here www.stlmag.com/news/cary-fo... . Thank you to host @sarahfenske.bsky.social!
Cary Fowler warns of headwinds for global food security—but sees solutions in St. Louis  | St. Louis Magazine
Cary Fowler has been compared to the Biblical figure Noah, and he admits the analogy makes sense. The Memphis native is known as the father of the so-called
www.stlmag.com
August 29, 2025 at 9:40 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
Jacob Suissa's career path was solidified after experiencing his first Botany Conference in 2016. Today, he brings his own students to experience the same inspiration. Celebrate #ADayforBSA by supporting the Endowment and inspire the next generation of botanists!

crm.botany.org/civicrm/cont...
August 27, 2025 at 5:02 PM
Please join me in supporting the Botanical Society of America!
🎥 Jenny Xiang, BSA Past President, shares why “#ADayforBSA” matters, BSA member benefits like no AJB page charges & reduced OA fees, and how your donation helps us reach our $15,000 Endowment campaign goal.

Watch Jenny's video: youtu.be/1dts8TT6WPk
Donate today: crm.botany.org/civicrm/cont...
August 27, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
Seeds of Change is two weeks away! 🌾 Join us on August 27 for an evening with global food security leader, Dr. Cary Fowler. Free to attend, with in-person and virtual viewing options available. Reserve your spot: bit.ly/4faVwSc
#STLEvents #FoodSecurity
August 14, 2025 at 12:50 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
Please spread the word! Authors based in Latin America receive discounts from 35-100% when they publish in #AppsPlantSci, thanks to Wiley's Open Access Pricing Power Parity Pilot (OAPPP Pilot).

Discover your discount at authorservices.wiley.com/author-resou... #OpenAccess #SocietyJournal #botany
July 10, 2025 at 7:37 PM
We planted a new vineyard aimed at studying rootstock x scion x environment interactions over time in clonally propagated plants - check out this cool video of our work!
One of the newest additions at our Field Research Site is a small vineyard 🍇
Here’s what the Miller Lab is studying about the wine that ends up in your glass.

@ajmiller4233.bsky.social
July 11, 2025 at 3:19 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
And here’s how to help, or find help, after St. Louis tornado (free article) www.stltoday.com/news/local/m...
May 19, 2025 at 2:16 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
Help BSA raise funds to support the PLANTS program! NSF terminated our award, but our community is stepping up!

Donate today to support a leadership & mentoring program that supports the next generation of plant scientists!
#SupportPLANTS

botany.org/.../plants-g...
crm.botany.org/makeadonation
May 14, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
On Friday, my son stayed home from school because he had a sore throat and wasn’t feeling well. He went with my husband to his office for the morning while I handled our daughter. When he came back at lunch, he was not interested in eating, saying his throat hurt too much. 1/n
May 5, 2025 at 7:11 AM
Reposted by Allison Miller
In light of the skinny budget (55.8% reduction), 6 past NSF directors and 7 NSB chairs have sent the House Committee on Appropriations a letter advising doubling the NSF budget.

"We face a fork in the road. Do we want to win or concede the race for new knowledge and a competitive STEM workforce?"
May 4, 2025 at 2:18 AM
Reposted by Allison Miller
“I don’t think this plant is a lost cause,” said Lily Hislop @currantlylily.bsky.social, who runs the only institutionally backed #blackcurrant breeding program in the West at the Savanna Institute.

#Blackcurrants showing up in Ambrook Research!
ambrook.com/research/cro...
@jessehirsch.bsky.social
A Taste of the Forbidden Fruit - Ambrook Research
Banned by the federal government a century ago, black currants were cast to the fringes of U.S. agriculture. Agroforestry advocates and berry connoisseurs are urging a revival.
ambrook.com
April 15, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Went on my first baby run yesterday after two surgeries to deal with a torn meniscus last year. It was sooooooooooooo nice to be back out there! I even caught a glimpse of my very favorite heron - the little blue heron. 🐦
April 17, 2025 at 2:28 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
It’s scary to be excited these days but I’m proud of our collaborative team and this new project to understand grafting and environmental variation effects on grapevine rootstock and scion epigenomics in vineyards across the Eastern US. @ajmiller4233.bsky.social
news.cornell.edu/stories/2025...
Uncovering ‘terroir’: Project to explore plant-environment interactions | Cornell Chronicle
A Cornell grape geneticist is leading a $2.3 million multi-institutional project to understand how genetically identical grapevines are influenced by varying environmental conditions in three states.
news.cornell.edu
April 17, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Reposted by Allison Miller
🌱 Stand Up for Science 🌿
Support BSA with an unrestricted gift on International Plant Appreciation Day! Your donation gives us the flexibility to respond to funding cuts and other emerging challenges.

💚 Give today: crm.botany.org/makeadonation
💚 Share your story with #LetsGoPlants and #IamaBotanist
April 13, 2025 at 9:00 PM
Join me in supporting the Botanical Society of America today - on International Plant Appreciation Day!
🌱It's International Plant Appreciation Day!🌿

Support the plants & community that inspire you. Please consider making an unrestricted gift—it provides flexible support, ensuring resources go where they’re needed most: crm.botany.org/makeadonation

Share your plant story! #LetsGoPlants #IamaBotanist
April 13, 2025 at 1:37 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
#Botany2025 let's gooooooooooo
March 31, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
“the N.P.G.S. budget is shoestring and its staffing minimal…And yet, with a trivial investment of 0.000008 percent of the federal budget, N.P.G.S. scientists quietly enable and safeguard our food system, worth around $1.5 trillion. Talk about return on investment.”
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...
Opinion | Why Did Elon Musk Go After Bunkers Full of Seeds?
Gene banks are like a survivalist cache: our nation’s safeguard against all future challenges to growing the food we need.
www.nytimes.com
March 22, 2025 at 6:49 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
0.000008% of the federal budget.

And utterly, irreplaceably, priceless.
Opinion | Why Did Elon Musk Go After Bunkers Full of Seeds? (Gift Article)
Gene banks are like a survivalist cache: our nation’s safeguard against all future challenges to growing the food we need.
www.nytimes.com
March 22, 2025 at 1:55 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
Perennial grain crops are here among us no longer a pipedream- thanks Malawi and China leading the way with civil society #thelandinstitute new options for farmers #savesoil family nutrition long lived roots+MO rewiring N P cycles #agrecology @vimbayic.bsky.social #PowellMponela @cimmyt.bsky.social
March 13, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
Our view of plants is expanding thanks to @kcox-bioguy.bsky.social’s team and our @advbioimaginglab.bsky.social. They’ve developed ExPOSE, a technique that enlarges plant cells for clearer imaging. This low-cost, high-res method is a promising breakthrough for plant research: loom.ly/STSKKuA
March 12, 2025 at 7:51 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
Pathways to a Perennial Future perennial grains meeting at CIMMYT in Texcoco, Mexico, co-hosted by the Land Institute
March 12, 2025 at 3:03 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
Root research through the years - the foundation of agricultural sustainabilty yet still so understudied! The hidden half is key to #savesoil, #climateaction, lets go root biologists! Which type of root systems are good for perennial crops?
March 11, 2025 at 7:45 PM
This week I am attending the “Pathways to Perennjal Future” International meeting at CIMMYT near Mexico City. Learn more about why I think perennial grains have a role to play in the future of agriculture in myTEDx St. Louis talk.
In her TEDx Talk, @ajmiller4233.bsky.social shares her dream: harnessing the power of perennials to create a more sustainable future for food.

Tune in here to see why she believes this dream is within reach—and how you can be a part of it: www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOLG...
Could perennial crops be the key to soil preservation? | Allison Miller | TEDxStLouis
YouTube video by TEDx Talks
www.youtube.com
March 11, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
The February issue of #AJB is here!! The opposite of #doomscrolling!!
#SocietyJournal #PlantJoy
#IAmABotanist
The latest issue of the American Journal 0f #Botany is now online! Check out the issue highlights at bit.ly/4ifHa3k.

#plantscience #pollination #herbivory #herbarium #biodiversity #climatechange #moss
February 25, 2025 at 8:41 PM
Reposted by Allison Miller
Plant genomics in @science.org this week:
Sequencing manioc/cassava genomes shows few geographic genetic signatures and instead Indigenous farming practices have driven dispersal of this clonally propagated crop
www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...
Historic manioc genomes illuminate maintenance of diversity under long-lived clonal cultivation
Manioc—also called cassava and yuca—is among the world’s most important crops, originating in South America in the early Holocene. Domestication for its starchy roots involved a near-total shift from ...
www.science.org
March 7, 2025 at 3:16 PM