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Profile

• Time Zone

  Eastern

  
  
• Organization

  University of Indianapolis

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  Ecology, evolutionary biology, genetics, polyploidy. I broadly study how plants respond to environmental stress, with particular focus on the genetic mechanisms that allow plants to tolerate damage by animal herbivores.

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  When and why did you decide to go into a science career?

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

  I chose to be a biology major in college because I had interests in pursuing a career in a health profession like dentistry or optometry. In my first year, I found that I enjoyed my biology classes more than I enjoyed the thought of specializing in a health profession, and decided to pursue biology as a career in itself.

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What is your favorite plant? Why?

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

  Probably coffee! I like tropical plants and fruit trees, and coffee is both. It is also interesting because it is important economically, culturally, and is shade tolerant so it can be grown indoors as a fun house plant!

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  What was the first science experiment you ever designed? How did it turn out?

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

  One of the first experiments I ever conducted as on ant behavior. I wanted to compare the responses of two species of ants to stressful conditions, and so I flooded their nests with water! One of the species is invasive to the United States and originally comes from a region of South America that floods frequently---it turns out that the ant species that is native to the flood region is able to relocate its nest much more efficiently than a closely-related ant species that is native to the United States where it doesn't flood very often. This is important because ant colonies are made up of thousands of individuals that have to make a decision together, and apparently having previous experience in that stressful situation helps a lot in making the right decision the next time it happens.

  
  
• Availability

  I am currently available for mentoring, please send me team match invitations

  
  
• Videoconference Ability

  (not set)

  
  

Recent Posts

The Pearl Millet's Daniel Scholes Apr 17 at 09:39am

said

Hi Team!  Thanks for the updates to your project journals.  Now that your plants are getting really tall, have you thought yet about when you'll start analyzing your data?  How do you plan to analyze it (like what kinds of graphs are you going to make, and are you going to calculate any averages, any calculation of the range, etc.)?  Just curious what you're thinking about for your next steps.

Thanks!

The Pearl Millet's Daniel Scholes Apr 12 at 10:11am

said

Hi Team!

It sounds like your new watering schedule is working out ok.  Keep with it and see what happens.  You're learning a very tricky part of growing plants---how much and when to water!  Too little and the plant dries out and dies.  Too much and the roots can't get the oxygen they need, and they can get fungal infections.

This reminds me of something I heard one time.  Do you know of bonsai?  It is the practice of growing potted plants, usually small trees, and often for some artistic value (for example to trim and shape a small tree to look like it is very old and growing on a windswept mountain top).  It involves a lot of careful pruning, shaping, attention to detail, and time.  People who want to become really skilled in this craft traditionally get training or go through an apprenticeship with a bonsai master.  And do you know what the very final lesson is?  The student is finally allowed to touch the watering can!

Keep in tune to the needs of your plants and hope that this new watering schedule continues to work!

The Pearl Millet's Daniel Scholes Apr 11 at 10:16am

said

Hi Team!  It sounds like watering has been a bit tricky.  The amount and frequency depends on a lot of factors (type of soil, pot size, plant size, air conditions), and so I would say to try the 1/8 cup daily and see how it works.  Less water more frequently can be a good strategy especially when the plants are small.

Thanks and hope that helps!