Planting Science - Members: View: Nicole Vaccaro

Nicole Vaccaro

Profile

Profile

Time Zone

Eastern
Organization

Rutgers University
Role

Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online
Research Interests (300 words)

I research how Mosses, Liverworts, and Hornworts can be used to teach biology for middleschoolers and highschoolers. I am mainly interested in re-introducing the students to the natural world, what we learn from inside the classroom is just as important as what we can learn outside of the classroom. I also study the micro organisms living inside of Moss, and their interactions with the other near by plants.
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):

The first experiment I ever designed was a complete disaster. I wanted to make a set of permanent microscope slides for my moss samples, which many botanists have done before with vascular plants (plants with flowers, leaves, stems, and roots). The main difference was that I used a Bryophyte, more specifically a species of moss(Bryophytes do not have true leaves, roots, stems, or flowers) which is something much smaller than a vascular plant.

That being said, I basically found 30 different ways that will not work, methods that can't create a permanent slide set of mosses. By the end of the experiment, I did figure out how to do it.

I did the experiment 31 times, it took me 3 months of constant trial and error, changing something every time, getting closer to the finish line until finally on the last one, it worked.
Profile Question 2

Can you describe your attitude toward science when you were in high school?
Answer the question you selected for profile question 2 here (300 words):

I always enjoyed science in middle school, in high school I loved biology and physics, but wasn't too fond of chemistry. I didn't really think I would go into science or teaching at the time. Honestly, I knew I wanted to be outside more than anything, I always wanted to be outside, I knew that a desk job wasn't for me, so I took some electives that I knew nothing about. I wound up taking an oceanography elective and a horticulture elective in my senior year of high school, and I loved both. I remember talking to my teachers about the field, but at the time they didn't know which schools had those programs.

So for college I didn't know where to go or what I wanted to do, so I went to community college and they had a 4 horticulture classes, so after I graduated with my associates and spoke to some professors they guided me towards an environmental studies degree at Ramapo College. That was when I knew I was in the right place, classes were outside, studying plants, birds, insects, sustainability, etc.

Then my advisor approached me about my plans for after graduation and I told him I'm not sure what I want to do, but I loved everything I've been learning. My advisor told me that Rutgers has a great ecology program, and that's where I am today.
Profile Question 3

What is a typical day like for you?
Answer the question you selected for profile question 3 here (300 words):

Every day it different for me, which I love. Monday-Thursday, I am at the Chrysler Herbarium in the morning for 4 hours a day then head to the Lab to work on my research for another 4 hours. Friday-Sunday I am usually doing feildwork, making collections and identifying species for a few hours a day. Sometimes I have more time on my hands to put into my career, other times I have my educator job and I have to teach or create new lesson plans for an upcoming fieldtrip/scout badge.
Capacity: How many teams at a time are you comfortable working with?

2

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