Planting Science - Members: View: Katherine Angela Preston
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Katherine Angela Preston

Profile

  • Time Zone
    Pacific

  • Organization
    Stanford University

  • Role
    Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  • Research Interests (300 words)
    I am interested in how plant structures and plant developmental patterns influence the way plants live in the world. Most recently I have been writing about plants we eat: what parts do we eat and why, how do their properties matter to us as eaters, and what can we learn about morphology and ecology by paying attention to plant foods? In past work, I have investigated the evolution of structures that help plants survive in their environments, for example leaf traits (thickness, number and size of stomates, hairs) and stem traits (size and capacity to carry water). I try to reconstruct evolutionary histories of these traits by comparing closely related plants that live in different environments.

  • Profile Question 1
    What was the first science experiment you ever designed? How did it turn out?

  • Answer the question you selected for profile question 1 here (300 words):
    My first experiment was not a good one, but I learned a lot. In first grade, I wanted to grow a bean plant for the science fair. My dad, a bacteriologist, told me that simply growing a plant was not doing science. To do science I had to ask a question. My question became "can I grow a bean?" And I could. My Dad let me grow that bean, but I never forgot his advice about framing questions in science. He guided me through many subsequent science fairs and supported me in my quest to become a professional botanist. Thanks, Dad!

  • Profile Question 2
    Can you describe your attitude toward science when you were in high school?

  • Answer the question you selected for profile question 2 here (300 words):
    I loved my biology classes in high school. I loved biology instinctively, but I also had a teacher who really cared about our learning. I most appreciated the creativity I could bring to the class through designing experiments and writing lab reports. Other classes were much more about following directions, but biology let me think for myself and test my ideas. It was exciting.

  • Profile Question 3
    (not set)

  • Answer the question you selected for profile question 3 here (300 words):
    (not set)

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

  • Capacity: How many teams at a time are you comfortable working with?
    2

Recent Posts

ChickenHeads Katherine Angela Preston

Hmmm. That is interesting. I predicted that the vermiculite treatment would be more yellow because it was starting to run out of nutrients. But it seems that more is going on. I'm not an expert in plant disease, but I might be able to tell you…

more
ChickenHeads Katherine Angela Preston

Ah, that's a great observation. You should take pictures so that you can monitor any changes to see whether the color is getting worse. Are all of the plants showing this? Or is it just in one of the soil types?

ChickenHeads Katherine Angela Preston

Hi, Chicken Heads! You have named your team. I like it.

Your plants could be leaning for a lot of reasons, so you need to take a close look at them.

1. They could be reaching for the light because they don't have enough of it. In that…

more

Skills & Endorsements

  • Challenges Student Thinking
    Marina Borges OsorioChristine Marie Tantoco
  • Encouraging
    Marina Borges OsorioChristine Marie Tantoco
  • Experienced
    Marina Borges OsorioChristine Marie Tantoco
  • Knowledgeable
    Marina Borges OsorioChristine Marie Tantoco
  • Responsive
    Marina Borges OsorioChristine Marie Tantoco

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NSF_Logo.jpg This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant #2010556 and #1502892. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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