Profile

• Time Zone

  Central

  
  
• Organization

  Oklahoma Academy of Science

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I am a retired community college professor (40 years.) I was trained as a plant ecologist, primarily grasslands, but my current interests lie in systematics and taxonomy. I am a member of a volunteer team of Oklahoma botanists writing the Flora of Oklahoma, a work in progress since 1986. As a botany and biology professor I always engaged students in a small research project as part of their laboratory experience. The projects varied from year to year but included: comparing algae from different pond communities; species area assessments in different grasslands; vegetation comparisons including a superfund site; stomatal differences of a plant in different environments.

  
  
• 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 first considered a career in botany when I attended a lecture given by a botanist at the local university. She had received an NSF Grant to study paramos in Colombia. Later this botanist was my professor in undergraduate biology and botany. I decided on a career in botany after attending RMBL. I saw botany as a field of study that would be adventuresome, would scratch my curiosity itch regarding the natural world and would never be boring. I was correct on all counts!

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What is best about being a scientist?

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

  I like that science, in an orderly and systematic way, attempts to answer questions about the natural world. I like that its knowledge is continually expanding and growing as scientists continue to refine the answers to old questions and ask new ones. And I respect the process of science as providing the best answers to those questions at a given time and place with the current technology. But that scientific answers submit themselves to revision because of the rigor of the scientific process.

  
  
• 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 was curious to know why most agricultural plants were intolerant of saline water. The first science experiment I designed was assessing salt tolerance in peas. It was a disaster! I didn't plant enough peas, my salt concentrations were too high, applied too quickly and most of the plants rotted. It was a strong learning experience!!

  
  
• Capacity: How many teams at a time are you comfortable working with?

  1

  
  

Recent Posts

No recent activity.