Profile

• Time Zone

  Mountain

  
  
• Organization

  University of Northern Colorado

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I'm interested in studying how plants reproduce and grow in different environments. Specifically, I focus on an ability some plants have called "clonality," where they can make exact copies of themselves. I want to know how these cloned plants affect their communities and how they adapt to changes in the climate. By understanding this, we can learn more about the plants in places like the Colorado Front Range, and how they might respond to a changing environment, helping us take better care of our high-elevation forests and alpine ecosystems.

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  What was the first science experiment you ever designed? How did it turn out?

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

  My first dive into science was an experiment that my mom helped me design. We wanted to see how earthworms impact pepper plant growth. After one week, we measured how tall the plants got. While the plant with the worms was taller, we only had three plants being tested so it could've just been luck. However, we did get to keep the plants for our home garden and I won third place at the science fair!

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What is a typical day like for you?

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

  My typical day is different depending on the season! While school is going on, I teach introductory biology lab to college students. I also take my own classes sometimes. The rest of my time is spent in the greenhouse or lab seeing how my plants are responding to drought. In the summer I get to hike to alpine ecosystems in the Colorado Front Range. Here I look at what plants are at the sites and collect a few for later measuring in the lab.

  
  
• Profile Question 3

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

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

  While learning about science, I learned some important things about how it works. First, being curious and asking questions is essential for scientists. Second, it's okay if things don't work out perfectly. Sometimes, scientists discover new stuff they didn't expect when things go wrong. Third, working together with different people is a big deal. Scientists do their best work when they share ideas with others. Patience is also critical because doing scientific research takes a lot of time. Being able to change and try new things is a must, too. And lastly, having someone more experienced to guide you is really helpful. They can teach you a lot and help you become a good scientist.

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

  2