Profile

• Time Zone

  Central

  
  
• Gender

  (not set)

  
  
• Organization

  Northwestern University

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  My biggest passion within plant science is carnivorous plants. You are probably aware of the Venus flytrap, which uses leaves that snap shut when triggered by touch to capture insects. Have you ever thought about where plants like that came from, though? Additionally, did you know there are dozens of different carnivorous plants, most of which are not related to one another? The ability of a plant to catch and eat prey actually evolved several different times as a means to survive in nutrient-poor soil. All plants need minerals like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium to grow and survive, and most plants get these from the soil through their roots. However, carnivorous plants tend to grow in environments with very poor nutrition in the soil—or sometimes with no soil at all! This means that they had to develop another method of acquiring nutrients, and that turned out to be carnivory.
  
  One carnivorous plant I am interested in is Sarracenia purpurea, or the purple pitcher plant. This plant’s pitcher-shaped leaves collect rainwater, which they use as a means of trapping insects that are enticed by the sugary nectar around the lip of the pitcher. Insects fall into the pitcher and drown in the fluid, after which they are digested by the plant, which absorbs the minerals it needs to survive from their bodies. However, not everything that enters the pitchers dies—there are entire communities of bacteria, protozoa, and even mosquito larvae that live and thrive in the pitcher fluid. I want to know why that is! I am developing an experiment to investigate how the organisms living in the pitchers help the plants absorb nutrients.

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  What is your favorite plant? Why?

  
  
• Answer the question you selected for profile question 1 here (300 words):

  I love weird plants! If it looks bizarre, smells bad, or eats bugs, I probably like it. My favorites are carnivorous plants, but I also love ferns and bryophytes (plants like mosses and liverworts that evolved long before things like flowers and trees).

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  (not set)

  
  
• Answer the question you selected for profile question 2 here (300 words):

  (not set)

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  (not set)

  
  
• Answer the question you selected for profile question 3 here (300 words):

  (not set)

  
  
• Capacity: How many teams at a time are you comfortable working with?

  2

  
  

Recent Posts

24fpandachspos project 3 Cael Dant Oct 10 at 08:24pm

Hey everyone! As Katie mentioned, please don't share your last names. It's a safety rule for students on here, I should have mentioned it earlier. First names are fine, of course! 

What have you all been up to since you introduced…

more

Hey everyone! As Katie mentioned, please don't share your last names. It's a safety rule for students on here, I should have mentioned it earlier. First names are fine, of course! 

What have you all been up to since you introduced yourselves? Have you started working on this project yet?

Photosynthesis v. Cell Respiration Cael Dant Sep 30 at 07:33pm

Hello everyone, thank you all for posting your introductions and sorry for the delay in getting back to you! My name is Cael (sounds like “Kyle”). I use they/them pronouns. I'll be the mentor for your group as well as helping to…

more

Hello everyone, thank you all for posting your introductions and sorry for the delay in getting back to you! My name is Cael (sounds like “Kyle”). I use they/them pronouns. I'll be the mentor for your group as well as helping to match mentors to the other groups in your class. I'm excited to work with all of you!

I have lived in a few US states as well as Japan, but right now I am a graduate student in plant biology at Northwestern University in Chicago, where I am studying the way carnivorous plants interact with bacteria in their environment and how those interactions affect the plants' ability to do photosynthesis. I also work at the Chicago Botanic Garden and I'm a freelance Japanese-English translator when I have time! Outside of school, I like learning languages, drawing, hiking, and making pottery.

I met Dr. Panda at a PlantingScience training workshop a couple years ago and I’m excited to see what you all do for your project! Do you have any ideas yet for what kind of questions you'd like to address in your experiment? Do you have any favorite plants or ones you'd particularly like to learn about?

P.S. MK, I hope you got your Oreos!

Something Great Cael Dant Sep 30 at 07:24pm

Hello everyone, thank you all for posting your introductions and sorry for the delay in getting back to you! My name is Cael (sounds like “Kyle”). I use they/them pronouns. I will be the “liaison” for your class, which mostly…

more

Hello everyone, thank you all for posting your introductions and sorry for the delay in getting back to you! My name is Cael (sounds like “Kyle”). I use they/them pronouns. I will be the “liaison” for your class, which mostly means I will help assign mentors to your groups as well as check in every once in a while to make sure everything is going well. Please keep an eye out for your mentor's introduction as you get ready to start your project.

I have lived in a few US states as well as Japan, but right now I am a graduate student in plant biology at Northwestern University in Chicago, where I am studying the way carnivorous plants interact with bacteria in their environment and how those interactions affect the plants' ability to do photosynthesis. Outside of school, I like learning languages, drawing, hiking, and making pottery.

I met Dr. Panda at a PlantingScience training workshop a couple years ago and I’m excited to see what you all do for your project! The ideas you've posted so far are great, and your mentor and/or I would be happy to talk to you in more detail about those. Do you know yet what question(s) you'd like to address in your experiment?