Profile

• Time Zone

  Central

  
  
• Organization

  Washington University - St. Louis

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I am passionate about restoration ecology and how the bacteria and fungi living in the soil help plants grow and co-exist. I perform experiments testing how I can use this knowledge to recreate ecosystems like tallgrass prairies so that they will be more successful and possibly even more resilient to disturbances such as invasive species and climate change.

  
  
• Profile Question 1

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

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

  I decided to go into a science career after taking an introductory evolution course. I was pre-vet at the time, but the wonder that the course awoke in me convinced me that becoming an ecologist was the right course. Follow your passion has rarely steered me wrong.

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What is your favorite plant? Why?

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

  My favorite plant is called Rattlesnake Master (Eryngium yuccifolium). It is a tallgrass prairie plant that has spikey leaves and greenish white flowers. It is called rattlesnake master because it was used as an anti-venom for rattlesnake bites by Native Americans. It is part of the carrot family and its roots actually smell like carrots! I have heard it called 'the duct tape of ancient times' since its fibers have been found in many ancient artifacts such as 3000+ year old sandals!

  
  
• 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):

  When I was in high school I couldn't care less about science. I was a member of my school's choirs and an art student and I took biology, chemistry, and ecology because I had to take them, not because I wanted to. I now believe that if I had had a passionate science teacher back then, that I would have fallen in love with science much sooner.

  
  
• Help represent the outreach efforts of your societies. Please click all those organizations you are a member of:

  Ecological Society of America

  
  
• 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

The Perfect Pitcher Plants. Rachel Becknell Apr 15, 2021

You're all very welcome! Best of luck in the future and I hope that you all continue enjoying the process of scientific discovery. You did an excellent job and should be proud of yourselves. 

Glass is cool Rachel Becknell Apr 15, 2021

You're all very welcome! Best of luck in the future and I hope that you all continue enjoying the process of scientific discovery. You did an excellent job and should be proud of yourselves. 

The Perfect Pitcher Plants. Rachel Becknell Mar 25, 2021

Great job thinking of potential errors that could have occurred. This is really important for the researcher to note this so that when you do it in the future you can improve your methods. It's also important because it is full disclosure to the…

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Great job thinking of potential errors that could have occurred. This is really important for the researcher to note this so that when you do it in the future you can improve your methods. It's also important because it is full disclosure to the rest of your scientific community that there may have been some error. 

As for the mold on the seed, I think that they only way that you could have prevented it would have been surface-sterilization. We do this by sloshing around the seeds in a small amount of ethanol (type of alcohol) and then bleach and then rinsing them really well with sterile water. This is probably not something that you could have done because you didn't have the sterile water or the time to sterilize them all. :) 

Again, great work! These are all errors that are easy to make and that I have seen even my college students make, so don't feel too discouraged!