Profile

• Time Zone

  Pacific

  
  
• Organization

  Portland State University

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I am interested in how plant adapt to climate change and how we can use local adaptation for restoration. I am also interested in parsing out the role of foliar fungal endophytes in local adaptation.

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  What is your favorite plant? Why?

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

  I really love Oregon White Oak (Quercus garryana) because it is not only beautiful but will likely expand it's range as the climate changes. This means we will still have beautiful carbon sequestering trees even when other trees can't take the heat and drought of global climate change.

  
  
• Profile Question 2

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

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

  I grew lichens and mosses on sterilized rocks in little jars. Scientists call these microcosms but they are essentially terrariums. I wanted to know what chemical elements the moss and lichen weathered from the solid rock and how this could change the atmosphere. It turns out, different species of moss and lichen weather different elements from the rocks. This means that moss and lichen could pull out way more carbon from the atmosphere that we previously thought!

  
  
• 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 had no idea what plant scientists did and I was not very interested in my biology class! As a first generation college student, it took me a long time to learn on my own how science works, how to become a scientist, and that I was a scientist at heart. In high school, I thought I was going to join the military or become a forester so the hard sciences were not very interesting to me. But eventually my love of plants prevailed and now I'm doing my PhD in biology.

  
  
• In addition to English, I am comfortable communicating with students in the following languages:

  (not set)

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

  1