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Ann Impullitti

Profile

  • Time Zone
    Central

  • Organization
    University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point

  • Role
    Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  • Research Interests (300 words)
    Eco-Physiology, environmental physiology, plant pathology, plant-microbe interactions. A detailed description is below

    The cryptic or hidden nature of plant-fungal interactions make it difficult to determine the functional role of fungi within plants. For example, plants are commonly colonized by latent pathogens that do not cause symptoms of disease for days, weeks, or even years, and it is unknown if the plant is being parasitized during this time. One of the methods to help determine the role of fungi in economic plants is to investigate the physiological changes they induce to light reactions, by measuring chlorophyll fluorescence, and carbon fixation, by measuring gas exchange. There is widespread interest in determining the role of cryptic fungi on plant physiology if we are to improve sustainable crop production.

  • Profile Question 1
    Can you share a funny/interesting lab or field story?

  • Answer the question you selected for profile question 1 here (300 words):
    I began my M.S at UW-Madison in fall of 2001. Like most graduate students, I was excited to begin my field research in summer 2002. I spent countless hours preparing. My project required that I start 1000's of plants in the greenhouse during spring 2002. I also inoculated all of the plants with the pathogen that I was working with. At the end of May, my lab (5-7 people) and I transplanted 1000's of soybean plants to the field. I was proud, excited, and exhausted. I left town for the weekend. When I returned on Monday, my M.S. advisor met me at the lab door when I walked in. He proceeded to tell me that all of my plants froze and died over the weekend!!!!! Luckily he already had a "Plan B" in place for my research project. I look back now and laugh, but I also think that this story shows the perseverance that is required for a career in science. Weather is out of our hands, and sometimes their are freak late frosts in the midwest!! :)

  • Profile Question 2
    When and why did you decide to go into a science career?

  • Answer the question you selected for profile question 2 here (300 words):
    After I finished my M.S., I was burned out and tired of science. I moved to Chicago with the intention of enrolling in pharmacy school. Being a pharmacist was a career that only required 40hrs/wk and paid well. I worked at a pharmacy for about 3 months. During month 3, I was standing at the Wal-greens drive-thru and started day dreaming about the soybean field across the road. I went home that night and thought "what am I doing? I hate working in the pharmacy". I immediately contacted a friend of mine at the UIL that had offered me a job when I finished my M.S. I told him that pharmacy was not for me, and what I really wanted to do was to work in a lab and to start teaching undergrads about plants and food production. I've never looked back and love my career as a professor at a small teaching school. :)

  • 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):
    Hard work, a positive attitude, and perseverance are critical! Science is tough, sometimes there are 'failures', but many of those 'failures' turn into real experiments when students have a positive attitude. I was mentoring 4 students a few summers ago, and 1 of my students worked hard all summer collecting fungi from soybean. About 7 weeks into his 10 week project, I found fungal mites on his plates. Fungal mites are a big red flag in the lab so I told him that he needed to dispose of all of his work from the last 7 weeks. It was a difficult day, but his positive attitude and hard-work also landed him an internship at the Danforth Plant Science center the following summer.

  • 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

bshsseligfall2017 project 7 Ann Impullitti

Adjusting pH might be possible, but you also might damage some of the tissues depending on the solutions that you use. You could increase your pH by adding NaOH (sodium hydroxide, aka lime), and you could lower your pH by using H2CO3…

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bshsseligfall2017 project 7 Ann Impullitti

Hi everyone,

Thanks for inviting me to work with you!  

I was an Associate Professor at Augsburg College for many years, but recently started a new position at the University of Wisconsin - Stevens Point.  I routinely teach a…

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NSF_Logo.jpg This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant #2010556 and #1502892. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.

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