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Project Descriptions

The Botany of Desire Television Documentary

September 1, 2003 - August 31, 2010 | Media and Technology
Kikim Media requests $743,316 to produce four half-hour television documentaries and associated outreach programs based on Michael Pollan's best-selling book, The Botany of Desire. The project explores the reciprocal nature of people's relationship with plants. The programs focus on the connections between apples and the human desire for sweetness; tulips and the desire for beauty; marijuana and the desire for intoxication; and corn and our desire for control over nature. The project will increase public understanding of diverse subjects including genetics, evolution, cognition and biochemistry as well as biodiversity, genetic diversity and the consequences of their loss. The project will have a broad impact through a national primetime PBS broadcast, an outreach program targeting adult audiences, and an educational module delivering appropriate content (excluding intoxication) to middle and high school audiences. Knight-Williams Research Communications will conduct the evaluation for The Botany of Desire television broadcast and outreach efforts.

Funders

NSF
Funding Program: ISE/AISL
Award Number: 0307967
Funding Amount: 891965

TEAM MEMBERS

  • REVISE logo
    Principal Investigator
    Kikim Media, LLC
  • Discipline: Chemistry | Life science | Social science and psychology
    Audience: Middle School Children (11-13) | Youth/Teen (up to 17) | Adults | Museum/ISE Professionals
    Environment Type: Media and Technology | Broadcast Media

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