Dolores M. Bartholomew, PhD

I am interested in exploring plants’ impact on the emotional well-being of students, employees, and patients within various indoor urban environments, aiming to advance understanding of how biophilic design can alleviate stress, enhance emotional health, and generate cooperative behaviors. The study seeks to utilize a mixed-methods approach, incorporating surveys, physiological measurements, and EEG readings to objectively assess plants' psychological effects. It will focus on diverse indoor settings, such as educational institutions, workplaces, and healthcare facilities. The research will identify the most effective plant types and displays, placement strategies, and sustainable maintenance practices, ultimately bridging the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical application and fostering increased support and investment for biophilic design initiatives. Further, once the research methodologies are developed from the study, they will be used to assess the impact of SciArt on viewers when combined with various storytelling strategies to address the issue of "plant blindness” to generate enhanced public support for botanical research efforts. Finally, to run in conjunction with the project will be botanical research utilizing CRISPR to improve plant properties, such as facultatively performing crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) in adaption to the indoor environment such that the plants may have maximal impact with minimal need for water and other limiting features that indoor environments present. 

PhD, Plant Molecular Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK - 1998
MS, Plant Biochemistry and Physiology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD - 1987
BA (cum laude), Biology, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, Buffalo, NY - 1984