Profile

• Time Zone

  Mountain

  
  
• Organization

  University of Arizona

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  Plants are some of the most diverse and fascinating organisms on the planet. Flowering plants dominate virtually all ecosystems on land, and display an incredible variety of forms and strategies for success. I want to understand how the diversity of flowering plants evolved. To do this, I reconstruct the evolutionary history of groups of plants using DNA sequences, and look for patterns in the evolution of traits such as leaf shape, flower color, and fruit type. I am also exploring ways to use invasive plants that are evolving in their new habitats to understand how trait shift happens on contemporary timescales.

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  What is best about being a scientist?

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

  What I like best is having so much freedom! I can do what I want, how I want, when I want. I get to think about, explore, and share what fascinates me. I get to try to find the answers to questions that no one has answered yet. There are so many unanswered questions and so much still to find out about the world; it gives us so many potential directions to go in. I feel like being a scientist is like being an explorer in uncharted territory, with the ability to go anywhere and tackle anything.

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What is the coolest thing you have discovered or learned about plants?

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

  There are so many cool things that plants do. I think one of the most interesting things about plants (and evolution in general) is how different plants have independently come up with the same strategies for doing things (eg. getting pollinated). For example, flowers that pretend to be female insects are found in many different, unrelated species of plants: they trick male insects into mating with them, thus moving pollen from flower to flower. One of the coolest things I discovered in a group of plants that I researched is that colorful, fleshy fruits evolved multiple times independently, instead of just once as was traditionally thought. This may have lead to greater evolutionary success in these species.

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  Can you share a funny/interesting lab or field story?

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

  Once, when I was a student, I went out on a collecting trip with my mentors, looking for a particular species of tiny, creeping native carrot in outback Australia. We drove to the spot where this plant had been previously collected, and walked into the bush to search for it. We looked for a long time, but had trouble finding the plant we were searching for. Finally, after walking back to our 4x4, I spotted some unassuming little plants growing in the sandy roadside, practically underneath our tires! Sure enough, it was the native carrot we wanted. Sometimes the thing you’re looking for hides in plain sight, right under your nose!

  
  
• Availability

  I am NOT available, please temporarily remove me from the available mentor list

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

  2

  
  

Recent Posts

PHSWC Rogers Fall P1G10 Patricia Lu-Irving Oct 7, 2016

Hi everyone!

My name is Pat, and I'm a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Arizona in Tucson. I study evolution in invasive plants. 

I started a career in biology because I am fascinated by all the living…

more

Hi everyone!

My name is Pat, and I'm a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Arizona in Tucson. I study evolution in invasive plants. 

I started a career in biology because I am fascinated by all the living things which share the world with us, and want to know more about them! In my spare time, I like to get outdoors and explore nature, and am currently enjoying the start of Fall here in the Sonoran desert where I live. 

Are you still studying cell division in class right now? My favorite thing about mitosis is the way the chromosomes become visible when they condense, as if they are appearing out of nowhere (but of course they've always been there, just invisible)!

Is there something you've learned so far that you find especially interesting?

GEHS Beardsley Hr8 Team5 Patricia Lu-Irving Oct 7, 2016

Hello!

My name is Pat, and I'm a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Arizona, studying evolution in invasive plants. 

I started a career in biology because I am fascinated by all the living things which share the…

more

Hello!

My name is Pat, and I'm a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Arizona, studying evolution in invasive plants. 

I started a career in biology because I am fascinated by all the living things which share the world with us, and want to know more about them! In my spare time, I like to get outdoors and explore nature, and am currently enjoying the start of Fall here in the Sonoran desert (I live in Tucson, AZ). 

I hear that you have started your Arabidopsis plants growing? That's exciting! How many of your seeds have germinated? Have they grown very much yet?