Profile

• Time Zone

  Eastern

  
  
• Organization

  Clemson University

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  I study how a plant’s leaf and flower color influences how it grows, reproduces, and survives in its environment. I also enjoy studying how climate may affect how plants look and function in their 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 have been drawn to science since elementary school since it was my favorite class that I understood and was genuinely interested in. I loved that science class always meant little projects and activities as opposed to the other topics (history, English, and math). I realized that I specifically love plant science when a college professor, later my first research advisor, brought me along to help with her field research one summer! It was during that summer that I decided I will be a plant scientist!

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What is your favorite plant? Why?

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

  My favorite plants right now are wild ginger species simply because I study them for my research. They represent some of the weird plants, in that, they have fleshy (sometimes stinky) flowers that are usually hidden under leaves or partially in the dirt. Yet, their heart-shaped leaves, which can be multi-colored, stick up high above the flowers and leaf litter. Wild ginger plants are just beautifully weird! In reality, I don't have a real favorite plant because I find something interesting and beautiful about every plant I learn about.

  
  
• 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):

  The coolest thing I've learned about plants is their ability to communicate with other plants and organisms! Plants can emit chemical signals to alert nearby plants of an active herbivore threat, telling other plants to increase their defenses. Soome plants can also use chemical signals to recruit help from organisms, like parasitic wasps, to help get rid of a herbivore threat! I just really love plant interactions, which is why I love ecology!

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

  2

  
  

Recent Posts

CozyBloom project 2 Cierra Sullivan Apr 19 at 02:37pm

Nice job everyone! o(*￣▽￣*)o I hope you all enjoyed and learned at least one cool thing while doing this plant experiment :D 

CozyBloom project 2 Cierra Sullivan Apr 12 at 07:11am

Very cool that you all observed the high fertilizer treatments having more flowers and less leaves, while the low fertilizer treatment has more leaves with less flowers and pods. This presents something interesting that you all could think about for…

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Very cool that you all observed the high fertilizer treatments having more flowers and less leaves, while the low fertilizer treatment has more leaves with less flowers and pods. This presents something interesting that you all could think about for your discussion on your results — a trade-off. A trade-off in biology is observed when one trait cannot increase with the decrease of another, and vice versa. As you know, leaves are the primary plant organ for photosynthesis, which is important for growth and survival. Flowers are important for reproduction and passing on genes to the next generation. Use this information to further guide you to understanding how the high and low fertilizer treatments are affecting your plants Y'all are going great!

CozyBloom project 2 Cierra Sullivan Apr 12 at 07:05am

If you know the name of the plant species you are working with, you could use the internet to look the species description (plant morphology) to know what color the stems typically are. For the purpose of your experiment, though, I think you have…

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If you know the name of the plant species you are working with, you could use the internet to look the species description (plant morphology) to know what color the stems typically are. For the purpose of your experiment, though, I think you have good reason to assume that your seedlings and juvenile plants are usually green if they are not experiencing some sort of stress.