Photosynthesis: the conversion of light energy to chemical energy that is stored in suguars or other orgnic compounds.

We’ve all learned this, but photosynthesis is more than that!  It provies the oxygen that we need to produce energy, it helped to create the ozone, and is a key metabolic process that supports the basis of most food chains on Earth.

In addition, the pigments that plants produce to harness the energy of the sun can also be utilized for artistic endeavors.  Although not all function directly in photosynthesis, plants produce numerous pigments – chlorophylls (green), carotenoids (yellows and orange) and phycobillins (red, purple, blue).  To explore this pigment diversity, the summer botany class (BOT 3015) utilized extracted pigments to create biological art.