The Thompson Earth Systems Institute is proud to announce that Distinguished Professors Doug and Pam Soltis have been selected as the recipients of the 2025 TESI Broader Impacts Award, recognizing their outstanding contributions to public engagement and science communication.
For decades, the Soltises have paired their groundbreaking research in plant biology and evolutionary relationships with creative, community-focused outreach. From saving forests to blending science and art, their work exemplifies the spirit of connecting people with Earth’s natural systems.
Science that Saves Places
In 2021, the Soltises spearheaded a campaign to protect McCarty Woods, a 3-acre natural area on the University of Florida campus slated for demolition. Working with students, community members, and UF staff, they successfully convinced university leadership to preserve the space. Today, McCarty Woods serves as a model for natural area conservation across campus, hosting monthly restoration events that draw dozens of volunteers to learn about and care for native biodiversity.
Doug says the project’s impact goes beyond ecological restoration:
“I just love seeing students and other volunteers plant a tree for the first time and getting excited just to be outside in the woods working with others. Hopefully, we’ve made a difference.”
Art Meets Science
The Soltises’ innovative approach to outreach is perhaps best captured in projects like One Tree, One Planet and TreeTender, which merge scientific concepts with art to inspire action.
One Tree, One Planet brought the Tree of Life representing the 2.3 million named species on Earth to audiences through large-scale projections and a smartphone app that lets users find their place in the web of life.
Their animated short film TreeTender follows Gaia, caretaker of the Tree of Life, as she learns about biodiversity threats and solutions. The sequel, TreeTender II, focuses on how knowledge of evolutionary relationships can be used in conservation. Shown at venues from local after-school programs to international science conferences, the films have been translated into five languages and integrated into K–12 classrooms nationwide.
For Pam, the emotional connection is key:
“The music of One Tree, One Planet still gives me shivers, and I still get tears in my eyes during TreeTender, so I guess those have had the most impact on me.”
Why Broader Impacts Matter
The Soltises are deeply committed to making science accessible and relevant.
“It has never been more important than it is now to communicate our work as scientists to others, either through novel training and teaching opportunities or through outreach activities that take the science that we do and make it possible for others to learn,” says Doug.
I think broader impact activities that share the thought process of science, as well as information about specific topics, can be effective.
— Pam adds
Looking Ahead
Both Doug and Pam see their outreach work as an ongoing mission. Doug hopes to expand the McCarty Woods model to other conservation areas across campus and explore new ways to use the TreeTender characters in interactive, game-based conservation education. Pam envisions Gaia and Calvin, the film’s protagonists, “becoming action heroes to save the planet.”
The Soltises are quick to point out that these successes are the result of collaboration. They thank the many scientists, educators, artists, students, and volunteers who have joined them on these projects, especially Rob Guralnick, Matt Gitzendanner, Ryan Folk, Naziha Mestauoi, James Oliverio, Tim DiFato, Darius Brown, and Pavlo “Pasha” Antonenko.
Larry M. Page, Curator of Ichthyology at the Florida Museum, who nominated the Soltises for the award, summed up their achievement:
“Doug and Pam have reached thousands of people through their work. They are truly an amazing duo and a wonderful inspiration for people at any career stage, as well as those just finding their footing in the plant sciences.”
