Profile

• Time Zone

  Pacific

  
  
• Organization

  Salk Institute for Biological Sciences

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I study how plants build their roots. I am interested in how we can use roots to store CO2 in the soil and help reduce climate change. I look at how plants decide when and how to grow their roots.

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  What is tough about being a scientist?

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

  Science requires a lot of failure. More often than not you do not get the result you were hoping for. There is a lot of repeating and this can get frustrating.

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  When and why did you decide to go into a science career?

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

  I decided to go into science when I was around 8 years old. I went to SeaWorld and was absolutely stunned by the orcas. I went home and took out every book from the library on them. I decided then that I wanted to be a marine biologist. That led me down this path.

  
  
• 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 is different. Usually I get to the lab around 8 and set up a few experiments. Some days I'm using a microscope. Some days I'm in the greenhouse taking care of plants. Other days involve computer work and reading papers. There's a lot of talks to go to as well. Typical day involves all of these.

  
  
• Help represent the outreach efforts of your societies. Please click all those organizations you are a member of:

  (not set)

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

  2