Profile

• Time Zone

  Eastern

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  One would assume that a bigger plant would be a better competitor because bigger plants are better at capturing resources from the soil including nutrients and water, and therefore a bigger plant should produce more successful offspring. However, my research, as well as others has confirmed that most plants are actually relatively small and between or even within a species, smaller plants (at least for wildflowers) are actually producing more offspring successfully, and therefore, my current research examines the reasons behind this and specifically plant body size and its relationship with reproduction/related traits like size at first reproduction, seed number, seed size and recruitment.

  
  
• Do you have previous experience in mentorship or educational outreach? Please list here (200 words)

  • PlantingScience MPST (for 4 years) (HS)
  • Previous Coordinator for Let's Talk Science at Queen's University
  • Ran plant biology related workshops with nature camps, classes, and at open houses (HS)
  • I was a Big Sister for 2 years (HS) including in school mentoring
  • Co-founded a blog about field research and presented workshops (HS)
  • Workshops for students interested in attending Queen’s (HS)
  • Mentored 20+ Undergrads (as field/lab techs or thesis students)
  • Helped design and implement field trips to demonstrate old field succession with 3rd years and botanical ID with 2nd years
  • Helped design and implement greenhouse experiments looking at salt stress, species diversity and productivity, etc., with both 2nd and 3rd years
  • Sat on BBBS Recreation Committee, and planned events for all Bigs and Littles to attend including nature walks and science centre visits (HS)
  • Organized and implemented workshops about how litter affects biodiversity (grade 6)
  • Currently lead bi-weekly meetings with kids up to 12 years old about anything nature-related

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  What is best about being a scientist?

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

  I think that scientists are naturally curious people, always questioning the world around them. The best part about being a scientist is that you get to feed that curiosity every day as you set up experiments and collect data in an attempt to answer questions that you think are interesting.

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What is your favorite plant? Why?

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

  This is an incredibly difficult question. My research has me working with over 300 wildflower species and I love each one of them. If I had to pick a favourite it would probably be blueweed (viper's bugloss). Although the coarse hairs make it hard to touch, it's a brilliant purple colour in the peak flowering season. Just as its flowers start to die they fade into a magenta/pink colour. They're quite the sight to see. And the bees love them to boot!

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  Do you have advice for students about preparing for a science career?

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

  My advice for students preparing for a career in science is to start early and try lots of different things. Start volunteering when you can and try out a plant lab, a soil lab, a bird lab, etc. Find what you are passionate about early, and this will only benefit you in the end!

  
  
• Availability

  I am NOT available, please temporarily remove me from the available mentor list

  
  
• Challenge, ELL, Honors

  ELL - English language learners
  Academically Challenged

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

  2

  
  

Recent Posts

Bad Chads Amanda Tracey Apr 15, 2019

Hi team and happy Monday! How are things going with your experiment? I was out setting up a big experiment this weekend, and as often happens, things did not quite go as planned. But, hey, that happens with science! Let me know if I can be of any…

more

Hi team and happy Monday! How are things going with your experiment? I was out setting up a big experiment this weekend, and as often happens, things did not quite go as planned. But, hey, that happens with science! Let me know if I can be of any help!

The Lil Soyer Girls Amanda Tracey Apr 15, 2019

Wow - great photo, team! Are you noticing any qualitative (things you notice with your senses like visual or smell or touch) or quantitative (measurable) differences between treatments? 

Bad Chads Amanda Tracey Apr 4, 2019

Hi team, I just read through some of the project details you entered - some very cool stuff! A couple of things for you to think about:

- Your claim (in the conclusion section) was that the incandescent bulb had the best rate of photosynthesis.…

more

Hi team, I just read through some of the project details you entered - some very cool stuff! A couple of things for you to think about:

- Your claim (in the conclusion section) was that the incandescent bulb had the best rate of photosynthesis. Do you think that you may be able to re-word this a bit? Right now, it sounds like the light bulb itself is photosynthesizing, which would be very neat indeed, but I think we all know that isn't the case :)

-How did you know the incandescent bulb was the hottest? Do you think the temperature influenced the rate of photosynthesis in the punched leaves?

-How many more leaves on average rose when the incandescent bulb was used? Was it not a big difference, like maybe 1 more on average, or was it significant like 8 more on average?

Excellent work and talk soon :)