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Arthur Leung

Profile

  • Time Zone
    Eastern

  • Organization
    University of Toronto

  • Role
    Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  • Research Interests (300 words)
    I study a special type of photosynthesis called C4 photosynthesis. This type of photosynthesis allows plants to perform better in hot habitats. I use plant physiology to study how and why it allows plants to perform better. As well, I relate the physiology to the plants' ecology and evolution.

  • Profile Question 1
    What was the first science experiment you ever designed? How did it turn out?

  • Answer the question you selected for profile question 1 here (300 words):
    In the last year of high school, I grew duckweed at different light intensities and measured its growth by measuring leaf area using ImageJ. However, the experiment went very poorly. This allowed me to learn a lot about well-designed experiments. For instance, I grew the plants on a bench in a classroom, where ambient light could have been a confounding variable. I also did not supplement the plants with nutrients during the experiment, which could have negatively affected growth. Although these variables affected all plants in the experiment, a better-designed experiment would have allowed me to easily resolve differences between treatment groups.

  • Profile Question 2
    Do you have advice for students about preparing for a science career?

  • Answer the question you selected for profile question 2 here (300 words):
    My advice for aspiring scientists is to take things slow and one step at a time. Science can be intimidating and difficult. It is good to reach out to scientists to get to know what they do; most scientists, in my experience, love to chat about their work. It’s normal to go through phases of confidence and feeling like you don’t know much (see the Dunning-Kruger effect). And it’s OK to feel anxious about your future. For someone like me that didn’t know anything about how scientific research works, the best thing for me was to reach out to people (LinkedIn, email, etc.) and talk to them. Websites where there is exchange of advice (Twitter and r/labrats and r/AskAcademia on Reddit) are also very helpful.

  • Profile Question 3
    What is your favorite plant? Why?

  • Answer the question you selected for profile question 3 here (300 words):
    Technically, it’s not a plant, but my favourite “plant” species is the cold-loving alga, Chlamydomonas sp. UWO241 (now renamed Chlamydomonas priscuii), which lives in a lake in Antarctica. This species is adapted to 6 months of darkness in the winter and lives permanently in temperatures as cold as your fridge. The lake it lives in is saltier than the ocean. For me, this species is so interesting because it thrives in conditions that are unliveable for other species. And there is still so much to learn about how and why it is able to.

  • In addition to English, I am comfortable communicating with students in the following languages:
    None of the Above

  • Capacity: How many teams at a time are you comfortable working with?
    1

Skills & Endorsements

  • No skills have been endorsed yet.

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NSF_Logo.jpg This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant #2010556 and #1502892. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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