September 3, 2020
How do you do botany fieldwork for a course during COVID when classes are online? Prof. Charles Davis developed an online botany course, Plant Biodiversity in the Digital Age, taught at the University of Michigan. Instead of conducting research at the University's Biological Station (UMBS) as usual, students used smartphones and an AI-powered app to identify flora in their own homes. Prof. Davis also created a slack channel for students to discuss their findings and help identify specimens when the students were stumped. The course was covered by The Wall Street Journal.