Profile

• Time Zone

  Central

  
  
• Organization

  USDA-ARS in Madison, WI

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I am interested in understanding how plants interact with helpful microorganisms in the soil, specifically, how microbes can help plants get the nutrients that they require. I study the relationship between a plant and type of soil bacterium; the plant gets nitrogen from the bacteria and the bacteria receive sugar from the plant.

  
  
• Profile Question 1

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

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

  I really loved all of my science classes in high school. I tried to take all of the AP science classes that my school offered and was able to take all of them but AP Physics. The only downside was my senior year when I had all of the lab classes back-to-back.

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What is best about being a scientist?

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

  I think the best thing about being a scientist is having control over what experiments you do and how you design them. It is great to feel like you have ownership over your own work.

  
  
• 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):

  I don't know if this was the first experiment I ever designed, but it was definitely one of the first. I was in high school and our group wanted to see what sugar source crickets liked the most. The crickets escaped and some got stuck in the materials we were using! It was kind of a disaster but we had fun and laughed a lot.

  
  
• 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

  
  

Recent Posts

24fcordondhspos project 2 Christina Arther Nov 12 at 12:37pm

Very interesting! Thank you for updating the project settings. What plant are you using for this experiment?

24fcordondhspos project 2 Christina Arther Nov 6 at 07:33pm

Hi Aleigha and Jenna!

I am Christina, your scientist mentor. Sofia will be monitoring all of the projects basically to make sure the mentors respond in a reasonable amount of time (haha). It's really interesting that you both are interested…

more

Hi Aleigha and Jenna!

I am Christina, your scientist mentor. Sofia will be monitoring all of the projects basically to make sure the mentors respond in a reasonable amount of time (haha). It's really interesting that you both are interested in medicine, that curiosity and science background will definitely come in handy during your experiments.

I am a scientist at the USDA in Madison, WI. My lab mostly works on plant molecular biology and biochemistry, focusing on alfalfa. 

Excited to work with you all!

The Cheetos Christina Arther Apr 28, 2023

Interesting! Thanks and good job with your experiment!