Profile

• Time Zone

  Pacific

  
  
• Organization

  University of California - Riverside

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I investigate how biological clocks work in plants and how they help plants anticipate and respond to abiotic stresses like heat and drought. I study how plants regulate these responses through controlling transcription and translation of certain genes. I am also interested in how we can use genetic engineering to better understand plants, and how we can use it to design plants more resilient to 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 have always loved science. I grew up knowing that climate change was a big issue that I wanted to address through my career, and I decided that science was a way that I could work on it. However, I did not decide specifically the field of science I would pursue until my sophomore year of college, when I chose a biology major. I also did research in several fields before studying plants. I studied forest ecology and animal development, but my interests kept returning to climate change, so I decided to go to graduate school for plant biology.

  
  
• 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):

  I've learned a couple of lessons in my science career, although I am sure there are many more for me to learn.
  1) We like to think that science is a straight line where you do an experiment, it tells you something, and then you move on. I have found that science is rarely that straightforward and you often need to hold multiple hypotheses in your mind that could explain the results of an experiment. Also, any experiment can easily disprove your favorite hypothesis. While it is challenging to remain impartial, it is important to base working hypotheses on what the data is saying.
  2) It can be really hard to control all the variables. Really small changes in light, temperature, or water can have really big effects on plant growth. Its therefore really important to have good controls for you experiments
  3) Reading papers about what other people have done is really important to do good science. It can give you ideas and places to start, and can help explain the results of experiments that you get.

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  What is a typical day like for you?

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

  I am a PhD student in a Botany program. Any day of mine has a little bit of taking classes and a little bit of research. I usually start my day by reading papers. This keeps me up-to-date on what other scientists are doing, and helps me plan my own experiments. I may then have a quick consultation with the head of my lab (otherwise known as a principle investigator) if I have any questions. I will then spend a couple of hours planning, doing, or analyzing experiments. Because I do a lot of molecular biology, many of these experiments are investigating how genes are behaving at different times of day. I will then go to class and complete some coursework.

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

  1