Profile

• Time Zone

  Central

  
  
• Organization

  Iowa State University

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  How do we feed our world in a changing climate? My work seeks to improve crop production in increasingly unpredictable and more stressful environments spurred by climate change. In the past, I have studied how elevated CO2, drought, heat, low phosphorus availability, and low nitrogen availability affect plant function and productivity. My PhD centered on understanding how plants roots contribute to drought tolerance in maize. Now, at Iowa State, I am studying the genetic and genomic basis of stress tolerance. Mainly, which genes and genomic variants contribute to desirable root traits to survive in specific stress environments?

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  What is best about being a scientist?

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

  The best part is making new discoveries! And, generating new knowledge!

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What is tough about being a scientist?

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

  The toughest part is getting used to failure. A major part of science is designing and executing a lot of experiments, many of which will not work out for one reason or another. But if you persevere, you might discover something great.

  
  
• Profile Question 3

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

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

  The very first experiment I designed all on my own (well, with supervision from my advisor) was during the summer before my senior year of college. The goal was to study nitrogen uptake in soybean under elevated CO2 using a normal soybean and a type of soybean that didn't product root nodules. I planted them in pots to set out in the field where our CO2 treatment was and was so excited to see what might happen. But something kept eating my plants when they would emerge. The first set emerged - eaten within a week. I replanted - eaten almost immediately! I then built cages around the plants and replanted. Still eaten! After that we gave up, but luckily I had plenty of other fieldwork to learn from.

  
  
• Availability

  I am NOT available, please temporarily remove me from the available mentor list

  
  
• Preferred Student Level(s)

  Middle School Students (Grades 6,7,8)
  High School Students (Grades 9,10,11,12)
  Undergraduate Students

  
  
• Challenge, ELL, Honors

  Honors or AP - Advanced Placement
  ELL - English language learners
  Academically Challenged

  
  
• 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

  
  

Recent Posts

THUNDER PUPPIEZ ! Stephanie Klein Apr 26, 2022

Cool pictures! So, can you describe to me what you see, too?

SBN Stephanie Klein Apr 26, 2022

Hey team! Have you made any progress? See any cool stuff?

THUNDER PUPPIEZ ! Stephanie Klein Mar 18, 2022

So let's take a step back for a second. What kinds of nutrients do you need to be healthy? Sure, you need a balanced diet, but maybe you take a daily multi-vitamin to make sure you're getting everything you need to be healthy. Plus you need…

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So let's take a step back for a second. What kinds of nutrients do you need to be healthy? Sure, you need a balanced diet, but maybe you take a daily multi-vitamin to make sure you're getting everything you need to be healthy. Plus you need plenty of water to stay hydrated.

Plants are very similar. They need to acquire necessary nutrients from the surrounding soil, especially nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. They need other nutrients, like iron and boron, in smaller quantities. It also needs plenty of water to encourage healthy growth. Just like us, a large proportion of the plant mass is just water. When any of these nutrients are lacking in the surrounding soil, meaning that soil is less fertile, a fertilizer may be applied to supplement any nutrients that are lacking (think you taking a daily multi-vitamin if you're low in iron, for example). So, soil health is inherently linked to plant health.