Raven presided at the congress' opening ceremonies, fielded questions from reporters, and delivered a lecture predicting that two-thirds of the world's species may be gone by the middle of the next century, thanks largely to destruction of tropical ecosystems. In between he helped break ground for St. Louis' new Donald Danforth Plant Science Center. Scheduled to open in 2001 and energized by a collaboration among the Missouri Botanical Garden, state and local government, Monsanto Corp., the Danforth Foundation, and area universities, the center will explore research fronts in agriculture, plant biotechnology, and molecular biology.
At the congress Raven also took time to talk to The Scientist's Barry Palevitz and Ricki Lewis. Following, in question-and-answer format, is a summary of that conversation.
Q: The word biodiversity is as familiar to most people as ecology. How did that happen?
A: Ecology used to be the study of plant distribution around the world; ...
