​🌱 For all their importance, the map of the world’s plants is still full of blank spaces.

​Join us at Wave Collective for a lecture with Dr. Barnabas Daru, Stanford biologist and Alfred P. Sloan Fellow, whose award-winning research is reshaping our understanding of global plant diversity.

​Plants sustain life—serving as primary producers, regulating ecosystems, and supporting human livelihoods—but we still lack a complete picture of where many of the ~340,000 species live. Without this knowledge, conservation efforts can miss critical habitats and fail to protect biodiversity.

​Dr. Daru tackles this challenge head-on: identifying data blind spots, developing tools to model species’ ranges, and mining herbarium collections—even uncovering the microbial symbionts that shape plant distributions. By linking innovation, policy, and conservation, he reveals the bottlenecks and breakthroughs that will determine how we safeguard the planet’s botanical wealth. 🌍

​❓FAQs❓

​​​What should I expect?

​​​7:00-7:40 --> arrival & chats

​​​7:40-8:20 --> lecture

​​​8:20-9:00 --> q&a and more chatting

​​​Who's invited?

​​​Anyone with an interest in learning new things, meeting new people, and doing fun things on weeknights! Lots of people came solo to our last event, so don't be afraid to do the same—you’ll meet some awesome people!

​​​What about parking?

​​​There's no parking on-site, so we recommend street parking or using public transportation.

​Do I have to be 21+?

​No :) This venue is open to all ages.

​​​What about refunds?

​You can refund your ticket up to 24 hours before the event starts. Since this is a limited-space event, we encourage you to update your RSVP if you can’t make it—this helps us keep spots open for others. NOTE - you do NOT need to email us for a refund, we will issue one within 48 hours upon changing your RSVP to "Not Going" :)

​What about accessibility?

​​​​​We want our lectures to be as accessible as possible. Depending on the venue, some audience members may need to stand, and our rule of thumb is that around 5% of attendees may not have seats. If you need specific seating accommodations, we recommend arriving early to secure a seat, or emailing us at [email protected] so we can make arrangements for you.

​​​​​Accessibility can vary depending on the space, so please research our specific venue to learn more about things like wheelchair access and service animal policies. If you have any accessibility needs not covered here, feel free to reach out and we’ll do our best to support you.

​​​​​​​I can't make it to this event. How do I stay updated for future events?

• ​​​​​📧 Join our mailing list

• ​​​​​📸 Follow our Instagram

​​​​​​​How do I become a speaker?

​​​​​Fill out this form and we'll reach out to you if we think your lecture is a good fit! 👉 Speaker form

​​​​What about the ticket structure? 💸

​​​​Every ticket sold goes directly back into the business. However, we want to make our events accessible to everyone. If cost is a barrier, please reach out for financial assistance by emailing [email protected].​

​​Thanks for supporting our growing mission!

​​​*For any other questions or special accommodations, please email [email protected].