Katie M. Becklin

The profile picture for Katie M. Becklin

Profile

  • Time Zone
    Eastern

  • Organization
    Syracuse University

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

  • Research Interests (300 words)
    My research explores how organisms interact in nature. In particular, I aim to understand how the environment affects interactions between plants and a type of fungus that lives inside plant roots. I am especially interested in how changes in the environment, such as rising temperatures and carbon dioxide concentrations, will affect these interactions, and how these plant-fungal interactions influence where different species live.

  • Profile Question 1
    What is the coolest thing you have discovered or learned about plants?

  • Answer the question you selected for profile question 1 here (300 words):
    One of the coolest things I have learned about plants is that they play host to an amazing diversity of bacteria and fungi. In fact, there can be hundreds of different microbes living inside a single plant! Some of these microbes help plants survive and grow, while others are diseases, but in many cases, the identity and the function of these microbes is still a mystery!

  • Profile Question 2
    What is best about being a scientist?

  • Answer the question you selected for profile question 2 here (300 words):
    My favorite thing about being a scientist is that no two days are exactly the same because every day I learn something new!

  • Profile Question 3
    What is tough about being a scientist?

  • Answer the question you selected for profile question 3 here (300 words):
    My favorite thing about being a scientist is also what (I think) makes it tough. As a scientist, my job is to ask questions about plants and design experiments to test these questions. I can make predictions about what I think will happen in my experiments, but there is often no "right" answer that explains everything. In fact, I often learn more when the results don't match my predictions. Thus, in order to understand how plants function I have to conduct many experiments, each one adding a small piece to the bigger puzzle.

  • 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

Group 2 Saylor, Isaac, Justin, Cody Katie M. Becklin
said

Hi team,

Let me know where you are at with your experiment. I am curious to hear about your results. I encourage you to make a graph showing the average time it took for large and small leaf disks to float to the surface. Graphs are a great way…

COM_PROJECTS_MORE
Group 2 Saylor, Isaac, Justin, Cody Katie M. Becklin
said

Hi team!

Have you started your experiment yet? It sounds like you are planning to test a total of 12 spinach leaf disks (4 leaves per size treatment). It is great that you are planning to replicate your experiment so many times. How are you going…

COM_PROJECTS_MORE
Group 2 Saylor, Isaac, Justin, Cody Katie M. Becklin
said

Hi team!

Have you started your experiment yet? It sounds like you are planning to test a total of 12 spinach leaf disks (4 leaves per size treatment). It is great that you are planning to replicate your experiment so many times. How are you going…

COM_PROJECTS_MORE

Skills & Endorsements

  • Challenges Student Thinking
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  • Encouraging
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  • Experienced
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  • Knowledgeable
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  • Responsive
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