Profile

• Time Zone

  Mountain

  
  
• Organization

  Colorado Mesa University

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I am a plant systematist, meaning I study the identification, description, and classification of plants and study their evolutionary relationships. I work on the plant genus Solanum that contains economically important species like the potato, tomato, and eggplant.

  
  
• 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 getting to indulge your curiosity. As a biologist, I am curious about the world around me and as a scientist I get to try to figure out the "how's" and "why's" of nature.

  
  
• 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):

  I decided to become a scientist because I love to be outside biking and hiking and skiing. During these activities I became interested in better understanding the world around me. If I saw a cool flower I wanted to learn the name of it so I could tell other people about it.

  
  
• 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):

  On my first plant collecting trip we were in a dugout canoe going down a river to spend 6 weeks in a remote rainforest. On our second day down the river our boat, which was loaded down with all of our gear for the next weeks, sank! I had to frantically swim and try to gather all the gear I could. In the end, we only lost a bit of our food (although we missed it at the end of the trip when we were very, very hungry) and were able to keep going.

  
  
• How did you hear about PlantingScience?

  (not set)

  
  
• 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

nhspandaposfall2023 project 7 Stephen Stern Oct 10 at 12:30pm

Hi folks,

Just checking in to see how your project is going. I would love to hear about your research question, how you designed your project, and how things are going. I also want to echo taking a look at the "star projects"-there is…

more

Hi folks,

Just checking in to see how your project is going. I would love to hear about your research question, how you designed your project, and how things are going. I also want to echo taking a look at the "star projects"-there is some great information in there!

nhspandaposfall2023 project 3 Stephen Stern Oct 10 at 12:30pm

Hi folks,

Just checking in to see how your project is going. I would love to hear about your research question, how you designed your project, and how things are going. I also want to echo taking a look at the "star projects"-there is…

more

Hi folks,

Just checking in to see how your project is going. I would love to hear about your research question, how you designed your project, and how things are going. I also want to echo taking a look at the "star projects"-there is some great information in there!

nhspandaposfall2023 project 3 Stephen Stern Oct 4 at 11:37am

Hi Folks, I am Stephen Stern, a professor at Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction Colorado. I am excited to hear about your project, how you set it up, and how things are going!