Biology professor brings spider expertise to PBS and children’s literature
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Associate Professor of Biology Greta Binford shares her knowledge of venomous spiders in the pages of a new children’s book and on an episode of Nova , airing on PBS on February 23.
Binford’s work with venomous spiders has taken her around the world and led to discoveries about the evolution of venom toxins in related spider species. Learn how her research is inspiring medical innovation in this profile in The Oregonian.
In an episode of Nova, titled “Venom: Nature’s Killer,” Binford will share what she has learned in her years studying brown recluse spiders and their relatives. The Nova program will feature scientists who study the world’s most venomous animals with potential medicinal applications.
Binford is also the subject of the forthcoming children’s book Silk and Venom: Searching for a Dangerous Spider, which traces her fearless search for the deadly Loxosceles in the markets, dumps, and desert-like terrain of the Dominican Republic. New York Times best-selling author Kathryn Lasky and noted photographer Christopher G. Knight offer a lively, informative narrative and intimate photos of everything from careful venom-milking in a lab to multicolored spiders in shimmering webs, which are likely to lure even the most committed arachnophobe. The book, which will be released February 22, is available for pre-order from Amazon and Powell’s now.
