Planting Science - Members: View: Elizabeth J Roberson

Elizabeth J Roberson

Profile

Profile

Time Zone

Eastern
Organization

Wright State University
Role

Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online
Research Interests (300 words)

I am interested in how invasive plants (plants that are not from an area but become established in and cause problems in a new environment) alter ecosystems. Invasive plants can change many attributes of an environment including light and water availability, temperature, soil characteristics, and the physical structure of the environment. Because everything in nature is connected, all of these alterations to environments can have large impacts on other species within the ecosystem, especially native plants and arthropods (hard-bodied animals that include insects and spiders).

My research focuses on how invasive plants alter native plants and therefore arthropod communities across multiple trophic levels (herbivores to predators) and across multiple scales (from individuals to full communities).
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 grew up in Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay, one of the largest and most productive estuaries in the United States. Because of the bay’s importance in providing ecosystem services, the public in the Chesapeake Bay watershed is very concerned with and involved in the protection, preservation, and conservation of the bay’s unique ecosystems. I, therefore, was exposed to and developed a love for environmental science and ecology at a young age. Along the way, I had some incredible teachers that inspired me to continue with my academic pursuits and revealed the true nature of scientific discovery to me. Because of my love of nature and science, and encouraging teachers, I decided to pursue a career in which I could study nature and also teach and help develop young scientists.
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):

One of the biggest and hardest lessons I have learned about science is that most of the time, you are wrong. Science is about asking questions, figuring out how answer them, and then attempting to answer them. At each point in that sequence, there are about a million things that can go wrong. It was crucial for me to learn that when things go wrong, it is ok. In fact, these small failures help us to fine-tune our questions, alter our methods, and increase the likelihood that we will actually answer our initial question.
Profile Question 3

Can you share a funny/interesting lab or field story?
Answer the question you selected for profile question 3 here (300 words):

I don’t have one specific funny field story but I did have one strange week. At the same field site during one week in July of 2015, I saw a coyote run across a prairie at sunrise, was followed through the woods by a rooster, stumbled upon an adorably small baby fawn, and helped a woman named Rainbow Child to find her lost car. It was a crazy and beautiful week in the field!
Availability

I am NOT available, please temporarily remove me from the available mentor list
Capacity: How many teams at a time are you comfortable working with?

2

Elizabeth J Roberson

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