Profile

• Time Zone

  Central

  
  
• Organization

  University of South Alabama and Dauphin Island Sea Lab

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  Plant physiological ecology, invasive species ecology, marine botany, submerged aquatic plant ecology, marine biology

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  What is best about being a scientist?

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

  The best part of being a scientist is that we get to spend our time solving real world problems that can have an impact on quite a large number of people. It is really a blast to be able to come to work every day and work to solve a small problem that can have a large impact on so many. In addition, we get to do experiments! It is very cool to be able to spend my days manipulating one variable at a time to see what leads to a change in the biology of the organism being studied.

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What is tough about being a scientist?

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

  Science in often like a roller coaster ride. We tend to spend a lot of time in the "valleys" of those roller coaster rides by testing things over and over and over again and often not getting useful results. This can get very frustrating. However, when good results come in it is as exciting as reaching the top of the roller coaster. And, ultimately, those "roller coaster highs" are what keep me moving forward each day through the frustrating times.

  
  
• Profile Question 3

  What is your favorite plant? Why?

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

  Hydrilla verticillata. This is one of the invasive species I study. It is a wicked cool plant because it has the capacity to switch between C3 and C4 photosynthesis when environmental conditions change. The plant performs C4 photosynthesis in a much different way than terrestrial or common C4 plants by doing this type of photosynthesis in only a single cell. In addition, this plant has never been seen sexually reproducing in the field. This results in a very effective way to reproduce which has lead to its competitive success in the field. However, it is interesting because it really limits the ability of this species to adapt to change over time.

  
  

Recent Posts

camsdavispgstfall2020 project 20 Molly M Miller Nov 19, 2020

Hi team,

I took a quick scan through your research paper draft and I think you are all off to a great start.  I think you could add a bit more detail into you discussion of the results by putting your results into the context of the rest of…

more

Hi team,

I took a quick scan through your research paper draft and I think you are all off to a great start.  I think you could add a bit more detail into you discussion of the results by putting your results into the context of the rest of the class.  How did your data compare to the other groups?  To others times this experiment was done?  To other published research looking at potato rot?  In addition, it is always good to highlight areas that could be improved as no experiment is ever perfect.  

It was nice to see the finished project!  Good luck wrapping everything up.  Let me know if you have any other questions!

Have a great Thanksgiving next week!

-Molly

camsdavispgstfall2020 project 20 Molly M Miller Nov 13, 2020

Hi everyone!

Thanks for sending over your data.  It looks interesting!  Since you have made lots of qualitative measurements of smell and texture, it may be a little challenging to quantify and directly compare across days.…

more

Hi everyone!

Thanks for sending over your data.  It looks interesting!  Since you have made lots of qualitative measurements of smell and texture, it may be a little challenging to quantify and directly compare across days.  Because numbers (quantitative data) are a bit more easier to compare, I would recommend that you make a 1-5 scale for smell and 1-5 scale for texture and fit your observational data to that scale.  Then, you can more easily have a comparative look at change over time.  Does that make sense?  

For example, for smell: 1 - rotten, putrid, decaying smell ... 5 - no smell (smells like a raw potato).  

Happy to help you set up the scales for each measurement if you decide to do this!

Good luck!

whssweetfall2020 project 2 Molly M Miller Nov 6, 2020

Hi Team,

It's so interesting that the cucumber seemed to become infected more quickly than both of the potatoes.  Do you have any ideas why they would have weaker detection of soft rot infection than a potato would?   

I…

more

Hi Team,

It's so interesting that the cucumber seemed to become infected more quickly than both of the potatoes.  Do you have any ideas why they would have weaker detection of soft rot infection than a potato would?   

I am curious about how you measured the soft rot infection across the cucumber, sweet potato and white potato.  Were you able to look at samples under a microscope and see any bacteria cells?  Or, did you use another measure of infection?