Profile

• Time Zone

  Eastern

  
  
• Organization

  University of California - Davis

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I am interested in understanding what governs the rules of inheritance. Yes, I know that Mendel discovered these rules >150 years agos, but there is still more that we need to know. Traits that are encoded on the same chromosomes are often co-inherited, but can be reshuffled through exchange of DNA between members of a chromosome pair. The points of exchange are not random and there are a multitude of factors that influences where these points of exchange occur. Understanding this process is vital to our understanding of inheritance and for plant breeding, as it influences which traits can be inherited together and which are split apart in every generation.

  
  
• 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 decided to go into a science career in part because of a happy accident and in part because of a really creative and inspiring teacher. I started my university education thinking that I wanted to be an investigative journalist. I had always been interested in getting to the bottom of things and had an intense curiosity to know what really happened whenever there was a situation that was unclear. At the time I was registering for college, though, some key forms that I needed to select my intended major were sent to my parents, who were living far away and managed to lose track of the forms. So I arrived at college without having selected an intended major or having registered for classes. Since there was a lot of space open in Biology classes, the school officials suggest that I register as a Biology major. I reluctantly agreed. The first class that I had on Genetics and Evolution was taught by Dr. Richard Gonzalez. He really challenged us to engage with the subject material and form our own critical thoughts and encouraged us to discuss our ideas with each other. It was a totally new approach to teaching and really made me think of science in a different way. I was inspired to apply my natural instincts for investigation to understanding how life works. Once I saw how exciting it was to be able to ask a question, design an experiment to figure out the answer, and then see the results, I was hooked.

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What is your favorite plant? Why?

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

  My favorite plant is probably the Australian Christmas Tree (Nuytsia floribunda). It is a parasite that attacks the roots of other plants to steal nutrients from them. Its roots have hydraulic blades that are sharp enough to cut human skin and it will wrap its roots around its host's roots and slice them open. However, it cannot do a very good job of discriminating between host roots and other things and will sometimes accidentally cut its own roots, or fallen twigs or even underground cables. It grows into a pretty large tree and produces bright orange flowers around Christmas time, which is the reason for its name. I like this tree because I find it really fascinating that natural selection has resulted in the development of such an interesting lifestyle and produced something that is as sharp of as a knife from biological materials.

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  What is the coolest thing you have discovered or learned about plants?

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

  Plants and animals are often faced with similar challenges from the environment and from other living organisms. Plants have no eyes, yet they can tell if they are in the sun or in the shade and respond in a number of different ways. They can grow toward the sun to ensure more light for photosynthesis. Or if it is a climbing vine, it can grow toward shade in order to climb up another plant. Without specialized structures like eyes, plants have to be able to collect information about the light environment in nearly every cell of its body and then integrate this information from all parts of its body to either change or not change the direction of growth and do this without any central information processing system like a brain. Being able to coordinate all of these signals and responses makes plants is one of the things that makes plants way more complex and way cooler than animals.

  
  
• Videoconference Ability

  (not set)

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

  1

  
  

Recent Posts

Economy clan Beth Anne Rowan Apr 22 at 01:07pm

Dear Keri, It's great to hear that the plants are doing better. Keep me in the loop as you finalize your experiment and let me know if you have any questions.

-Beth

Economy clan Beth Anne Rowan Apr 17 at 06:44pm

Dear Students,

Have you taken any photos of the plants as they have been growing? It sounds like the plants are doing a bit better, but maybe with some dead leaves. My guess is that the plants were stressed in the first growing condition and that…

more

Dear Students,

Have you taken any photos of the plants as they have been growing? It sounds like the plants are doing a bit better, but maybe with some dead leaves. My guess is that the plants were stressed in the first growing condition and that is why they weren't growing well at first. I also wanted to mention that the first and second leaves of maize plants have a much shorter lifespan than other leaves, meaning they die a lot sooner. So it might be that what you are seeing is just a natural part of the plant's life cycle. Either a picture or a more detailed description would give me some more information and then I might be able to be a little more helpful!

Dirt Beth Anne Rowan Apr 10 at 03:51pm

Hi Lucas,

I'm Beth, a mentor here with PlantingScience and I am researcher at UC Davis. I grew up in Carmel, CA. I went to the University of San Diego for my bachelor's degree. My Ph.D. research was on the DNA of plant organelles at the…

more

Hi Lucas,

I'm Beth, a mentor here with PlantingScience and I am researcher at UC Davis. I grew up in Carmel, CA. I went to the University of San Diego for my bachelor's degree. My Ph.D. research was on the DNA of plant organelles at the University of Washington. I then worked as a postdoc at the Max Planck Institute for Biology in Tübingen, Gerrmany for a number of years before coming back to California and working at my current job at UC Davis. My research is focused on genomics and genome editing of lettuce plants. I want to understand the genes that are responsible for basic biological processes and those that are important for agricultural traits. When I am not in the lab, I love running, biking, and hiking with my kids.

I saw that you updated the project description. Good luck with your seeds and let me know if you have any questions about them as you see them start to germinate.

-Beth