Watch A Scientist Explain Their Work With A Dance Routine

More scientists should communicate their Ph.D. by dancing.

A plant biologist from the University of Georgia, Athens has been announced as the winner of the 7th annual "Dance Your Ph.D." contest.

Uma Nagendra / Via youtube.com

Uma Nagendra, who is an aerialist as well as Ph.D. candidate, used her trapeze skills to explain her study of how tornados affect forest ecology. She beat dances about nuclear fusion and the chemistry of mayonnaise for the grand prize.

Maybe unexpectedly, it turns out that tornadoes can actually be helpful for a forest's tree seedlings – because they help protect them from parasitic fungi – but potentially bad for the diversity of the forest's ecosystem.

Uma Nagendra / Via youtube.com

The adult trees (white pine trees, in this case) have a very specific set of parasitical fungi that live in their roots, which can damage or kill tree seedlings.

These fungal infections are more likely to harm seedlings growing close to their parent tree, as this spooky dance shows.

Uma Nagendra / Via youtube.com

This means that the species of pine will end up being spaced far apart in the forest, which lets other species flourish in the gaps. This makes for a more biologically diverse forest.

BUT THEN A TORNADO HAPPENS!

Uma Nagendra / Via youtube.com

Dramatic.

The mature trees die off, leaving the unprotected forest floor to become dried out. The fungi cannot survive as easily without the parent tree, meaning that all the tree seedlings can grow to maturity.

Uma Nagendra / Via youtube.com

This could potentially lead to one species of tree coming to dominate the forest, replacing the more diverse ecosystem that existed before the tornado.

Watch the full video here:

vimeo.com