Profile

• Telephone

  (not set)

  
  
• Time Zone

  New Zealand Daylight Time (NZDT, GMT +13)

  
  
• Organization

  Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research

  
  
• Employment Status

  (not set)

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I study invasive plants - plants that humans move to another area that escape and spread on their own. I am especially interested in how plants become invasive, and I study seeds, plant growth, and interactions between invasive species and other plants and animals. I explore these issues using field experiments and I am also interested in using statistics to help us understand what happens in the natural world.

  
  
• 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 decided to become a scientist when I was in high school. We started doing experiments, which I thought were pretty fun, and I was always interested in the natural world and how it worked, but what really inspired me to become a scientist was realizing how many things we still don't know. I am really excited to discover new things and help us understand the world better.

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What is a typical day like for you?

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

  On most mornings, I ride my bike into work. At work, I might spend some time outside checking on plants for my experiment, or spend time on the computer making graphs of my data and doing statistics to understand my results. I also spend a lot of time writing about what I've found or what I want to do next, so I can communicate it to other scientists. Sometimes I have meetings with other people to talk about the experiments we are planning, or are currently doing, or have finished and are writing about. Sometimes I listen to other people talk about what they have done, or read papers that tell me what scientists working in other parts of the world have discovered. I love being able to do lots of different things at work, and I enjoy working with other people who like plants and are curious about the world.

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  Do you have advice for students about preparing for a science career?

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

  Science starts with observations and curiosity. The first step is to start paying attention to the world around you and asking questions! Then you have to figure out how to answer your questions. You should take a mix of science courses so you have a good background and can discover what area you like best - take biology, chemistry and physics, and don't be afraid of them because some people say they are hard. You should also study math, because math and statistics are really important to any job in science. Finally, get some experience with research projects - volunteer to work with researchers at a nearby university or park or find ways to do experiments in your classes. It will help you know what you like to do, and will give you important skills for a job in science.

  
  
• 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

  
  

Recent Posts

6d5 Light Collectors Jennifer Bufford Apr 15, 2022

Hi Annabelle,

Thanks for sharing your final results and your thoughts on your experiment!  You all have done a great job and it's interesting to hear what you found.  Sounds like you had really strong light in the sun on the…

more

Hi Annabelle,

Thanks for sharing your final results and your thoughts on your experiment!  You all have done a great job and it's interesting to hear what you found.  Sounds like you had really strong light in the sun on the windowsill, and the light under the plant lights wasn't maybe quite as strong as it seemed.

One of the things I find hard about science is having to balance getting as much data as possible with being realistic about what I can do.  It feels like it's always better to take more data, but you don't always have the time to do it.  I think you did well with the time that you had, and you got some interesting results.

Congrats on completing your experiment - it was great working with you and I hope the rest of your school year goes well.

Jennifer

6d5 Light Collectors Jennifer Bufford Apr 15, 2022

Hi Hannah,

Thanks for sharing your final results and your thoughts on your experiment!  You all have done a great job and it's interesting to hear what you found.

One of the things that I like about science is that we sometimes get…

more

Hi Hannah,

Thanks for sharing your final results and your thoughts on your experiment!  You all have done a great job and it's interesting to hear what you found.

One of the things that I like about science is that we sometimes get unexpected results - like the results you got with your plant light.  I find one experiment often raises more questions and inspires new experiments. It seems like there's always more science to do and more things to explore and ask questions about!

Congrats on completing your experiment - it was great working with you and I hope the rest of your school year goes well.

Jennifer

6d2 Golden Edible Energy Jennifer Bufford Apr 15, 2022

Hi Carolina,

Thanks for sharing your final results and your thoughts on your experiment!  I'm sorry to hear you had covid and had to miss the presentation.  I hope you're feeling better now?  I'm sure your team did a…

more

Hi Carolina,

Thanks for sharing your final results and your thoughts on your experiment!  I'm sorry to hear you had covid and had to miss the presentation.  I hope you're feeling better now?  I'm sure your team did a great job, but missed having you with them.

One of the things I really like about science is that the results are sometimes unexpected!  I'm glad all your seeds germinated, and that you got a chance to see the way one experiment almost always feels like it should lead to another.  It seems like there's always more science to do and more things to explore and ask questions about.

Congrats on completing your experiment - it was great working with you and I hope the rest of your school year goes well!

Jennifer