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Short abstract

This presentation summarizes lessons learned from the development and implementation of Uprooted: Plants Out of Place, a recent exhibition at Carnegie Museum of Natural History aimed at presenting the nuanced topic of invasive plants through an interdisciplinary lens.

Long abstract

Species invasions are ranked among the top concerns for biodiversity change globally, with big economic costs. Yet, public skepticism and mistrust towards the field of invasion biology have been heightened by growing criticism from within the social sciences, humanities, and popular media. Debates continue over the biological importance of ‘nativity’ and whether the theoretical foundation of invasion biology is biased beyond repair, riddled with sentiments of xenophobia and militaristic language. Communicating about introduced species and their impacts in ways that engage and empower audiences can be challenging but necessary to enable informed decision making. These aspects of invasive species messaging have been largely overlooked, especially in museums, nature centers, and other institutions where public-facing messages have potential to influence local culture and opinions. This reviews the conflicting perspectives between science and the humanities and highlights the need for updated, inclusive communication strategies. Communication strategies are developed and experimented upon in a recent collaborative project at Carnegie Museum of Natural History, which culminated in a new museum exhibition, Uprooted: Plants Out of Place. Integrating historical-scientific narratives through archival objects, art, and museum specimens, the exhibition recontextualizes the museum’s Hall of Botany of plant-centric dioramas dating from the 1920s that portray idealized plant communities devoid of humans. The exhibit focuses on human responsibility and agency, emphasizes invasive plants as passengers, interrogates the role of language in shaping attitudes, and illuminates other cultural points of view. This work emphasizes that invasion biology is not just a scientific discipline, but necessarily an interdisciplinary one.