Profile

• Time Zone

  Eastern

  
  
• Organization

  Strategic Analysis, Inc.

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I study how plants interact with each other and respond to the environment. I look at how the experience of parents can influence their children's responses to crowded, very sunny, or otherwise stressful environments. I have also worked with how adding some special sugars found in microbes can make potato plants more resistant to harsh conditions like heat, growing with weeds, and growing under short days.

  
  
• 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 think I always knew I wanted to be a scientist, before I even knew what that meant. Growing up, I couldn't get enough of the nature documentaries; I could tell you about every animal featured. I loved to collect leaves, flowers, roly-polies, tadpoles, etc. As I got older, I found out that there are many paths that let you learn more about nature and the world around us. What really sealed the deal for me was later in life - in college when I stumbled into a plant ecology class and I could not stop talking about it and all the cool things I learned.

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What is best about being a scientist?

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

  The best thing about being a scientist is that people never tire of you asking "why" or "how" or "what if...". I love that science is a never-ending quest for knowledge, and you never run out of things to learn. Sure, it can be frustrating sometimes that question can lead to more questions and not always answers, but it is exciting to always find a new piece of information or get to see the big picture when things come together.

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  What is your favorite plant? Why?

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

  I love too many plants to name, but if I was forced to pick one I would choose the hibiscus. This gorgeous flower is in the mallow family - whose roots gave us the first marshmallows! The beautiful flowers always remind of vacation, and later in life, where they would grow naturally in the south. Plus, they grow in wet environments - they love being by the water, just like me.

  
  
• In addition to English, I am comfortable communicating with students in the following languages:

  (not set)

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

  2

  
  

Recent Posts

The Diffusers Britany Morgan Apr 25 at 11:49am

Thanks for the response, Samir. My point about the metal clips is that they might also change the soil chemistry slightly depending on the material so it might be better to have your control be a pot with a metal clip not attached to any battery so…

more

Thanks for the response, Samir. My point about the metal clips is that they might also change the soil chemistry slightly depending on the material so it might be better to have your control be a pot with a metal clip not attached to any battery so you will truly be comparing voltage to no voltage and not something else, too.

Seed Scholars Britany Morgan Apr 25 at 11:46am

Hi Team,

There a few things to consider - do we have an idea of what might be causing a difference in growth between hydroponics and soil? For example, you are adding nutrients to the water so you know exactly how much the seeds are receiving in…

more

Hi Team,

There a few things to consider - do we have an idea of what might be causing a difference in growth between hydroponics and soil? For example, you are adding nutrients to the water so you know exactly how much the seeds are receiving in that treatment, but what about soil? 

Think about how long plants live/grow. Do you think these differences you see when they are very young will continue throughout the plants' lives? How would you go about examining that?

You never answered my question on how you are measuring growth. Is it total height, number of leaves and/or branches, size of leaves, etc.? What about root growth? Do you think you might get different results depending on what you choose (and don't choose) to measure?

Do you have any questions for me? Do you feel like you have a better idea of  your experiment the second time around?

Seed Scholars Britany Morgan Apr 8 at 02:59pm

Hi Team,

I noticed none of my comments/replies have a response. Let me know when you read through everything and we can chat about how you think your project went, what worked/what didn't, and how to improve it if you were to repeat it. I…

more

Hi Team,

I noticed none of my comments/replies have a response. Let me know when you read through everything and we can chat about how you think your project went, what worked/what didn't, and how to improve it if you were to repeat it. I hope you had fun working with seeds! Seeing seeds germinate is one of my favorite parts of working with plants!

Britany