Sarah Darwin facts for kids
Sarah Catherine Darwin (born on April 1, 1964, in London) is a British botanist. A botanist is a scientist who studies plants. Sarah Darwin is also a descendant of the famous naturalist Charles Darwin. She is known for her work with plants, especially tomatoes on the Galapagos Islands.
Contents
Becoming a Botanist
Sarah Darwin studied plants at university. She earned her first degree in Botany from Reading University in 1999. Later, she continued her studies at University College London. In 2009, she completed her PhD, which is a very high university degree. Her special research was about the different types and genes of tomatoes found on the Galapagos Islands.
Exploring the Galapagos
Sarah Darwin first visited the Galapagos Islands in 1995 with her family. She loved it so much that she stayed behind to draw pictures of plants for a special guide book about the islands. These islands are famous because her great-great-grandfather, Charles Darwin, studied their unique wildlife.
Sarah is also an important supporter for the Galapagos Conservation Trust. This group works to protect the amazing plants and animals on the islands. She even wrote the introduction for a book called Galapagos: Preserving Darwin's Legacy in 2009.
Talking to Plants?
In 2009, news stories shared a fun experiment Sarah Darwin was part of. She "won" a friendly competition about "talking to plants" against ten other people. In this experiment, tomato plants grew the best when Sarah read parts of her great-great-grandfather's famous book, The Origin of Species, to them!
Sailing Like Darwin
From 2009 to 2010, Sarah appeared in a Dutch TV show called Beagle: In Darwin's wake. In this show, she and her family, along with other adventurers, sailed on a ship called Stad Amsterdam. They were recreating the famous journey Charles Darwin took on HMS Beagle many years ago. This trip helped people learn more about the world and science.
Her Family Connection to Charles Darwin
Sarah Darwin comes from a very interesting family! Her father was George Erasmus Darwin. She has two older brothers, Robert and Chris Darwin. Chris is also a conservationist, working to protect nature.
Sarah is a direct descendant of the famous scientist Charles Darwin. Her family line goes like this: Charles Darwin had a son named George Howard Darwin. George had a son named William Robert Darwin. William was Sarah's grandfather. So, Charles Darwin is Sarah's great-great-grandfather!
Her Own Family
Since 2003, Sarah has been married to Johannes Vogel, who is also a botanist. He used to be in charge of the plant collection at the Natural History Museum, London. Now, he is the Director General of a museum in Berlin, Germany. Sarah and Johannes have two sons named Leo and Josiah.
In 2005, Sarah and her family, including her father and brother Chris, helped count the flowers at Down House. This was Charles Darwin's home, and it's now a museum. It's a special place for her family!
See also
