Buried seeds, buried treasure
Featured scientist: Marjorie Weber from Michigan State University.
Other scientists: Frank Telewski, David Lowry, Lars Brudvig, and Margaret Fleming.
Written by: Elizabeth Schultheis and Melissa Kjelvik.
Research Background:
One of the world's longest-running science experiments lies hidden in the soil beneath
Michigan State University’s campus. Over 100 years ago, a scientist named William J. Beal
had a question: how long do seeds survive underground? To find out, he started an
experiment. In 1879 he filled 20 bottles with sand and seeds from local plants. William
buried these bottles and created a map to document their location, hoping that future
scientists would continue to dig them up to test the seeds long after his death.
These bottles and the map have been passed down from generation to generation, with
each new scientist responsible for training their predecessors. To protect the seeds, only a
select few scientists are let in on the secret. Today a team of four plant biologists hold the
map, and they were the ones to dig up the most recent bottle in 2021.
Early one Thursday morning, before the sun had risen, the team set out on their mission.
Marjorie Weber, the first woman to be in
charge of the study and currently the
youngest team member, was the scientist
who found the bottle and pulled it from the
ground. This is a big deal, as back when
William began the experiment women
weren’t even allowed to be scientists!