Scientific Kitchen: Botany at the Bar

Selena Ahmed is an assistant professor and Program Leader of Sustainable Food and Bioenergy Systems at Montana State University, as well as a partner of Shoots & Roots Bitters. She examines the effects of global environmental change, policy, and management on food system quality and the resulting linkages to land-use strategies and community well-being.

Rachel Meyer is a plant evolutionary biologist and co-founder of Shoots and Roots Bitters. Many of the species that she uses to manufacture bitters are simultaneously her research subjects.

Christian Schaal has been bartending in New York for over a decade. In that time, he has contributed original cocktails to chef-driven restaurants such as Estela and Alder and run the bar program at Nights & Weekends and Manhattan Inn.