Tracing plant history through Evolution

Recently, we had the pleasure of hosting Prof. Vinita Gowda on The Next Experiment. She is a professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Education, and Research, Bhopal. Prof. Gowda leads the Tropical Ecology and Evolution Lab, which focuses on understanding the evolution of floral and vegetative traits using molecular, ecological, and behavioural tools. The seeds for her interest in botany might’ve been laid quite early in life. Her mother was an avid gardener. Perhaps her mother’s proclivity towards gardening served as a silent influence.

Prof. Gowda was seriously pulled towards botany due to having excellent teachers. Most STEM students unfairly view botany as a boring subject. Her teachers broke that stereotype. Their ability to turn a “boring” subject into an interesting one is what convinced her to pursue botany. After her master’s, she worked as a JRF to figure out exactly what she wanted to do. There are always hot new “buzzword” fields that everyone is tempted to pursue. Those fields were microbiology, biotechnology, and molecular biology during her student years. While it is important to know what you want to do, she believes, it is equally valuable to know what you don’t want to do.

She became interested in ecology during her JRF work. This was quite different from

the fields in vogue. Her inclination towards ecology took her to George Washington University, USA, for her doctoral research. It was during her doctoral research that her approach towards science matured. During her time at George Washington University, Prof. Gowda felt that there was a gap in India for world-class pedagogy. Thus, she knew that she’d come back to India and lay down some of the bricks to fill that gap. In the future, she wants to tackle some rather challenging problems. One of the most difficult questions to answer in science is to define what a species is. She wishes to take a stab at this problem. Another problem she wishes to explore is that of plant communication. There is a complex interplay between the shooting parts, the roots, and the microorganisms. Decoding this mystery is something she’s interested in. In 2026, everyone is concerned about how AI will impact their field. She feels like ecology needs more fieldwork than AI. AI might have a place in analysing large datasets, but in a fieldwork-heavy field like ecology, we still need researchers working outdoors.

She also illuminated certain methods to study the effect of climate change on plants. Higher elevations contain more specialised flora. These are much more sensitive to climate change. Studying how specialised flora has been affected is one way to study the effects of climate change. She believes that urban development and ecological concerns need not be opposed to each other. One of the ways to make our cities more sustainable is by dedicating definite “green zones” at regular intervals. Here, we can plant native flora. This not only serves conservation but also provides innumerable benefits to us. One of them is improving the air quality index of cities, which is a hot-button issue in India right now. Hopefully, the duet of expert science and good governance will give birth to more liveable and ecologically

conscious cities.

This blog only provides a snippet into the fascinating conversation we had with Prof. Gowda. In the podcast, she goes into much detail about her work and how plants and animals have influenced each other over the millennia. I invite you all to tune in to the podcast here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaGWEewJWmA

Written by,

Deven Matkari