2026 Rachel Carson Science, Technology, and Society Lecture

Presented by: PLU College of Natural Sciences

• Keynote Speaker: Dr. Banu Subramaniam, Luella LaMer Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Wellesley College
• Date: Monday, February 23, 2026
• Time: 7 p.m.
• Location: Chris Knutzen Hall in the Anderson University Center, 12180 Park Ave S, Parkland, WA 98447. This event will also be livestreamed virtually.
• Cost: Free and open to the public. Please register online prior to attendance.

Dr. Subramaniam’s presentation, “Migrant Ecologies: Plant Worlds and the Afterlife of Empire,” explores how histories of colonialism and their foundational language of gender, race, sexuality, and nation have shaped the language, terminology, and theories of the modern plant sciences. In wrestling with these difficult origins, Subramaniam develops the concept of migrant ecologies to retheorize plant migration and reproductive biology. She also explores new biological frameworks that harness the power of feminist thought in order to reimagine and reinvigorate our love of plants.

Professor Banu Subramaniam is an award-winning author, interdisciplinary scholar, and the Luella LaMer Professor of Women’s and Gender Studies at Wellesley College. She received a B.S. from the University of Madras and a Ph.D. from Duke University. Subramaniam is the author of “Holy Science: The Biopolitics of Hindu Nationalism” (2019) for which she received the 2020 Michelle Kendrick Memorial Book Prize from the Society for Literature, Science & the Arts and “Ghost Stories for Darwin: The Science of Variation and the Politics of Diversity” (2016), winner of the Ludwik Fleck Prize 2016 for an outstanding book across the breadth of science and technology studies. Her most recent book, “Botany of Empire: Plant Worlds and the Scientific Legacies of Colonialism,” was published by University of Washington Press in June 2024.

Supported by a generous endowment from George L. and Helen B. Long, the Rachel Carson Science, Technology, and Society Lecture series was designed to bring leading experts in the fields of science and technology to campus to address the PLU community. Visiting scholars interact with PLU students and faculty in the classroom and lecture on a scholarly topic of general interest in the evening. Past speakers have included Dr. William Foege, Dr. Pamela Ronald, and Dr. James McLurkin.

• PLU College of Natural Sciences
• George L. and Helen B. Long Science, Technology and Society Endowment for the Natural Science Division at PLU