Profile

• Time Zone

  Eastern

  
  
• Organization

  University of Waterloo

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I am interested in understanding how temperate forests will respond to climate change. Specifically, I look at how characteristics of wood change as trees grow from seedlings to mature adults and how those changes influence their ability to survive and grow in drought conditions.

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  Can you share a funny/interesting lab or field story?

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

  For my honour’s thesis project, I reared my lobelia plants in a greenhouse, and when they started flowering, I moved them outside so I could expose them to pollinators. Everything was going as planned until day #3 in the field when it rained, and the stems of my plants started snapping left and right! We quickly realized what we did wrong: In the greenhouse, we watered plants with an automated system that fed water directly into the soil. By doing this, we did not provide the stems with the stimulation they needed to signal to the plants that they needed to make their stems strong and rigid. As a result, the stems of our plants were very weak, and they could not support the weight of the rainwater in the field. It all turned out OK in the end because we quickly reinforced the rest of the stems, but we learned the importance of simulating field conditions when growing plants in the greenhouse.

  
  
• 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 a science career in grade 11 of high school. I loved all of my science courses and biology was my favourite subject. I initially thought I wanted to be a wildlife veterinarian, but I found a love for plants during my second year of university during a botany course I took as an elective.

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  What is the coolest thing you have discovered or learned about plants?

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

  Plant cells are totipotent! This means that every cell in a plant can de-differentiate and develop into any other type of plant cell. This means that any plant cell could, in theory, develop into a whole individual plant. This is different than most mammalian cells which cannot change their cell type once they have been differentiated from stem cells.

  
  
• 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