Profile

• Time Zone

  Central

  
  
• Organization

  University of South Dakota

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I developed an interest in plant molecular biology research, particularly in plant abiotic stress during my MS program at Newcastle University, UK. I worked on engineering plants to tolerate salt stress for my thesis. It was indeed a good opportunity to study plants on the molecular level because it exposed me to the wealth of possibilities that plant biotechnology have provided researchers in plant science. My research in abiotic stress tolerance is ongoing and I am working with a facultative crassulacean acid metabolism halophyte, Mesembryanthemum crystallinum, to understand how it withstands high salt concentrations, drought, and heat.

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  What is your favorite plant? Why?

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

  I love MESEMBRYANTHEMUM CRYSTALLINUM (Ice plant) because am currently working with them, so it was easy to love them. They are beautiful but the major reason I love them is that they have a fascinating feature. they are CAM plants like the cactus and show high levels of abiotic stress tolerances compared to most food crop plants. For example, the ice plant can withstand 800mM of salt concentration (salt concentration in the ocean), but rice, soybean, and apples can withstand from 100Mm to 200mM of salt concentrations. I am currently harnessing the gene responsible for the plant's abilities to withstand abiotic stresses and hopefully translation into crop plants using my 2nd favorite plant Arabidopsis thaliana

  
  
• Profile Question 2

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

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

  when I was in High school

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  Can you describe your attitude toward science when you were in high school?

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

  I have always liked sciences, and always excited about the lab sessions and the interesting things I learned in class. Always eager to learn and watch the reactions of the chemicals I mix in the chemistry lab. The dissection of plants and insects in the biology lab was fascinating because I always wondered how these organisms survive as human beings do. So I guess curiosity led me into sciences and now I can say that sciences helped answer my questions with evidence. I picked more interest in biology over time and continue in biological science until now.

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

  2

  
  

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