Profile

• Time Zone

  Eastern

  
  
• Organization

  Botanical Society of America

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I study plant evolution and how humans have shaped plant diversity during the process of domestication. My work involves a range of skills including plant identification, genetics, bioinformatics, and statistics.

  
  
• 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):

  When I was in high school, I enjoyed math, chemistry, and writing much more than biology. As a high school student, biology was always presented to me as a class where you learned things that we (society/scientists) already knew. It wasn't until college that I began to understand that biology is an active field of research and that many important questions (sometimes even those we thought we had answers to) still need to be answered.

  
  
• 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 most important lessons I have learned as a student of science is that science is HARD. It is not easy to design and implement experiments, and often, things will go wrong. But this is also one of my favorite things about science - it is a challenge. If you are determined and persistent, when you finally get things to work and get results you will have a great sense of accomplishment.

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  What is your favorite plant? Why?

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

  My favorite plant (right now) is the one I am studying - the mango! They are amazingly diverse, and are culturally and economically important around the world.

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

  2