Profile

• Time Zone

  Central

  
  
• Organization

  Rice University

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  My research focuses on how environmental variation, both in time and space, affects the way populations change over time. Currently, I study whitebark pine, a tree that grows at high elevations in the western United States. It is threatened by the mountain pine beetle, and invasive fungus, climate change, and fire suppression; understanding how these threats impact whitebark pine populations is important for preserving subalpine ecosystems. I also do theoretical work that can be broadly applied to many species.

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  What is best about being a scientist?

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

  The best thing about being a scientist is that you get to ask and answer questions that nobody knows the answer to. In essence, you are creating new knowledge, which is a very special thing. On top of that, you get to ask questions that are interesting to you, and every time you answer one question, it raises several more, so you will never be bored.

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What lessons have you learned in your career about how science works?

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

  The biggest lesson I have learned about how science works is that pretty much everything will go wrong at some point. The price of creating new knowledge is that you are often trying things that have never been done before, which is challenging. However, through persistence, creative and logical thinking, and collaboration, you can work through all those failures. When you finally get things to work, it's very rewarding.

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  What is a typical day like for you?

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

  I have two types of typical days: a day in the field and a day in the lab. When I work in the field, I backpack in to my sites and camp. Each day I usually get up with the sun, and spend the day walking straight up and down a mountain, collected tree cores, cones, or other data. It's very physically demanding and exhausting, but it's wonderful to be outside all the time, completely immersed in my study system. Once I've collected all my data, though, I have to do something with it, which brings me to a typical office day. A day in the office is usually a combination of managing and analyzing data, reading scientific articles, writing, talking with other students and faculty in my department, and teaching undergraduates. It's less adventurous than a day in the field, but it is exciting when you finally get to see your results, answer your questions, and communicate your findings to other scientists.

  
  
• 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

SES Team 9 Emily Schultz May 16, 2017

Glad to hear that things wrapped up well! Cool that you were able to test chlorophyll a too.

It's been a pleasure working with you! Thanks for putting so much thought and effort into the project.

The Lit Corn Poppers Emily Schultz May 2, 2017

It's been great working with you too! I'm glad you had a good experience. It looks like you got some interesting results!

The Lit Corn Poppers Emily Schultz Apr 27, 2017

It seems like you've probably wrapped up your project. It has been great working with you. I hope you enjoyed the project and learned a lot!