Barry Rice
Dr Barry Rice is an astrobiologist who spans two main scientific disciplines. He has a PhD in astronomy, and is a tenured college professor in that field. As a botanist, he worked for 10 years at The Nature Conservancy (an international biodiversity conservation nonprofit), and has engaged in fieldwork, focusing on carnivorous plants, for more than 25 years. He has served as either the managing and a scientific editor for the publication journal of the International Carnivorous Plant Society for more than 20 years. He has published widely, both two books on carnivorous plants, many supporting chapters on carnivorous plants, and research papers - mostly on the genera Utricularia, Drosera, Darlingtonia and Sarracenia; in his work he has described several new varieties of carnivorous plants. He currently holds a position as research associate at the University of California, Davis, Center for Plant Diversity.
Visit Dr Barry RiceFastest predatory plant
The fastest carnivorous plants are aquatic bladderworts (genus Utricularia), which use suction-based traps to capture prey such as small crustaceans, insect larvae and even young tadpoles. One species (U. australis, aka the southern bladderwort) has been recorded ensnaring victims within as little as 5.2 milliseconds, though around 9 milliseconds is the more typical timeframe.