Profile

• Time Zone

  Pacific

  
  
• Organization

  University of California - Riverside

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I'm interested in the way that plants defend themselves, specifically the toxins they produce to do it. Things that we take for granted in our food such as capsaicin, which is what makes jalapenos spicy or glucosinolates, which makes horseradish and wasabi taste so strongly. These are meant to defend the plant from herbivores and other pathogens. However, they also have a impact on us too. Too much can be bad for us while just eating a little can also help our health. I think these dynamics are really interesting and fun to learn about.

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  Can you describe your attitude toward science when you were in high school?

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

  I hated chemistry, with a red hot intensity! I even cried in class. I promised myself I'd never work in it and now look at me! A plant chemical ecologist. Never say never!

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What lessons have you learned in your career about how science works?

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

  Your experiments will FAIL! and that's okay and normal. It's how you learn and its something you get used to after a while. You don't take failure so hard in science. It's only failure if you give up. Even if the project has to shift because the experiment ended up finding nothing, that is still a win!

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  What is best about being a scientist?

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

  The dynamic lifestyle you have as a plant scientist. One day you're in the lab creating plant mutants or doing toxin tests on plates, the next you're outside in the mountains collecting plants, there's days you spend completely on the computer and another day you're in the greenhouse doing transplant experiments. Everyday is something new!

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

  2