Roxana Khoshravesh

Growing up in Iran, and traveling across its forests, mountains, and deserts with their unique landscape and vegetation, as well as observing farmers, gardeners, and foresters planted the seeds of love and appreciation for nature very early in my heart. 

The desire to know about plants grew more when I was a teenager and my family moved to our cottage in a small town near the Caspian Sea, North of Iran. There, I was surrounded by plants, in our yard, in the forest we walked into, in the mountain, and more importantly, in our small farm. It was then and on that little farm that my long-lasting relationship with plants turned into the determination to be a biologist.

Since I remember, plants were everywhere, first, they were my toys, then my study subject, later research and art material, and always a source of inspiration.

Education and professional life

I hold an undergrad and a master’s degree in plant biology and received my Ph.D. in plant systematics from the University of Tehran- Iran in 2012.

From 2012 to 2022, I worked as a researcher at the Universities of Toronto (Canada), New Mexico (US), and Lancaster University (UK). I have also been a Systematic Botany instructor at the University of Toronto from 2017-2018. Currently, I am working as a botanist to perform ecological studies focusing on the identification and preservation of rare and at-risk plant species across Ontario-Canada.

From botanical illustration to traveling across the deserts of Iran as a botany student, from writing plant stories to teaching Systematic Botany, and from imaging plant cells to pursuing a professional career as a botanist, my desire has always been to make plants visible and preserve the value and beauty of plants in people’s lives.

Day to Day Botany

When I started my plant biology adventure, I realized that it is impossible to work with plants and forget about their needs, to observe how we destroy their homes, contaminate their soils and water, and push them out of their communities and yet, remain silent. I understood that raising public awareness on the environmental crisis is essential for biologists. This was the time I became more engaged in the activities of organizations involved in promoting sustainable public relationships with nature. Eventually, the initial idea of Day-to-Day Botany was born.  

To see my publications, please check my google scholar and researchgate.