Profile

• Time Zone

  (GMT -4) Atlantic

  
  
• Organization

  University of the Virgin Islands

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I have been researching the population genetics of rare Virgin Islands plants since 2000. Current research projects include population genetic structure of Virgin Islands’ endemic plants, such as Erythrina eggersii (cock’s spur), mangrove trees such as Rhizophora mangle (red mangrove). I am currently working on a genome-wide genotyping study of the invasive seagrass, Halophila stipulacea.

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  What is your favorite plant? Why?

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

  Solanum conocarpum is a rare native plant in the Virgin Islands. I love this plant because it is beautiful and amazingly hardy- all of the seedlings we have planted into gardens in order to increase its numbers are thriving. Native plants make excellent landscaping material!

  
  
• Profile Question 2

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

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

  Science is an ongoing process (it is not a pile of facts to memorize). Some parts of this process can be very frustrating (such as when your research methods are not working), but it is worth it. If you see th project through, you always find out something interesting and important in the end.

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  Can you describe your attitude toward science when you were in high school?

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

  I loved biology and chemistry at that stage (okay, I still do)- it was so wonderful to find out how things work. I had a lot of trouble with physics, though. Physics just was not intuitive for me. However, my understanding of physics has helped me understand biology even better.

  
  
• Availability

  I am currently available for mentoring, please send me team match invitations

  
  
• 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

rkhssilbartposfall2023 project 6 Alice Stanford Oct 25, 2023

Plants do need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, but I am sure there is some maximum limit where it becomes too much carbon dioxide, because plants also need oxygen for respiration. So if there is too much of other gases, they might not get enough…

more

Plants do need carbon dioxide for photosynthesis, but I am sure there is some maximum limit where it becomes too much carbon dioxide, because plants also need oxygen for respiration. So if there is too much of other gases, they might not get enough oxygen. It would be interesting to find out whether experiments have been done with this in growth chambers where the amount of each gas can be strictly controlled. 

rkhssilbartposfall2023 project 6 Alice Stanford Oct 10, 2023

Good morning, everyone!

It was interesting to see your experiments and all your questions. I use genetics to study the ecology of plants.  To answer some of your questions: when I first went to college, I did not study plants in particular.…

more

Good morning, everyone!

It was interesting to see your experiments and all your questions. I use genetics to study the ecology of plants.  To answer some of your questions: when I first went to college, I did not study plants in particular. My major was ecology. I did a couple of research projects with plants, though, and became more interested in them. So after I finished my bachelor's degree, I went to graduate school to get a PhD and studied plant genetics.  I did like college (definitely more than high school!). You don't take as many classes at a time in college, and you get to pick your major, so you can really spend more time learning things that interest you. That is even more true in graduate school. So I have no regrets, but I think it is important to choose something that you like. 

 

It makes a lot of sense that the type of light would impact photosynthesis. I am not not sure exactly what was done for the other project (breath, water, baking soda), though. Could you explain that one?

 

Since some of you are interested in history, maybe you will be interested in the impacts of plants on history. I think they are pretty huge. The type of crops that can be grown in certain areas have a huge impact on the way civilizations develop, or you might be interested in learning about the potato famine. 

project 12 Alice Stanford Dec 2, 2021

Wow, that is a very dramatic result! I would not have guessed that vinegar would be so much worse than baking powder. How much baking powder was mixed into the water? Did you measure the pH of the vinegar, the water, and the baking soda water?