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Jennifer Winther

Profile

  • Time Zone
    Eastern

  • Organization
    Grand Valley State University

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

  • Research Interests (300 words)
    I am interested in furthering our understanding of the interactions that occur between plants and soil microbes (bacteria and fungi) that are the cornerstone of terrestrial and agricultural ecosystems. I employ a variety of approaches from DNA to microscopy to investigate these interactions and have studied everything from ferns, to gymnosperms, to small sustainable market gardens.

  • Profile Question 1
    What is your favorite plant? Why?

  • Answer the question you selected for profile question 1 here (300 words):
    Lycopods are my favorite group of plants. Extant lycopods are sometimes confused with mosses and are commonly referred to as club mosses. Although extant lycopods and mosses can look similar and are found in similar habitats, lycopods are vascular and extinct lineages include species that were as tall as trees. I enjoy thinking about how dinosaurs interacted with tree-like lycopods during the carboniferous period. As a lover of plant life cycles, I am fascinated by the separate gametophyte and sporophyte generations of lycopods. Some lycopods have a gametophyte that is non-photosynthetic and receives food through symbiotic fungi for many years.

  • Profile Question 2
    Can you share a funny/interesting lab or field story?

  • Answer the question you selected for profile question 2 here (300 words):
    I learned that terrestrial leaches are real on a collecting trip in Queensland Australia. Hiking up the tallest mountain in Queensland to collect ferns and flowers, my travel partner and I noticed what looked to be cute inch worms. As we continued to hike we noticed that these "inch worms" seemed to be everywhere and following us. Taking a break under a rock overhang to get out of the torrential downpour, we looked down and noticed blood stains on our legs. When we pulled up our pants to see the source of blood, we were horrified to find not a scratch, but multiple leaches. As plant biologist we had no idea what to do and also quickly realized we were covered in leaches. Even worse, we could see these "inch worms" everywhere and they were coming for us (leaches can sense body heat). We did the best we could to remove the leaches (sometimes leaving an open wound), tucked our pants into our socks, and continued on our way.

  • 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):
    Get excited. Get engaged. Make mistakes. There are many opportunities in every community to get engaged with science. Many zoos, nature centers, science museums, hospitals, local parks, community gardens, clubs, local colleges/universities, and botanic gardens have opportunities for school age students to participate in science research, education, and volunteer activities. If there is something you want to do, and it does not exist, make the opportunity happen. I started a program in high school where the science club visited an elementary school and taught simple hands-on science lessons over the course of the year. Learn about all the ways there are to be a scientist and do science by reading books, watching videos, and talking to people. The possibilities really are limitless.

  • Capacity: How many teams at a time are you comfortable working with?
    2

Recent Posts

Crazy Corn Jennifer Winther

hello scientists,

Looks like you have a good plan.

I am wondering if you think some sand will be beneficial (increase drainage) and some will be too much (not enough nutrients, too much drainage). Often in science experiments we have a control…

more
Crazy Corn Jennifer Winther

Hello crazy corn team members,

Hope you had a fun spring break! Happy to hear you are learning more about soil, nutrients, and plant growth. Here is a link to lots of information about soil and nutrients for plant growth. It goes into lots of…

more
Crazy Corn Jennifer Winther

Hello Crazy Corn,

Great name! Have any of you been to the corn palace (https://cornpalace.com/)? In graduate school a number of us drove from the University of Colorado to Madison Wisconsin for a conference and we passed so many corn fields that…

more

Skills & Endorsements

  • Challenges Student Thinking
    Marina Borges Osorio
  • Encouraging
    Marina Borges Osorio
  • Experienced
    Marina Borges Osorio
  • Responsive
    Marina Borges Osorio

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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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