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Rachel Rose Jones

Profile

  • Time Zone
    Mountain

  • Employment Status
    University / College Graduate Student

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

  • Research Interests (300 words)
    I am fascinated by plant genetics, and am at the start of my first year of a PhD program focusing on how plants regulate the flow of information in their cells, particularly as related to environmental stresses. As an undergraduate at Colorado State University, I studied plants that can hyperaccumulate the element selenium. “Hyperaccumulators” are plants that can take up large quantities of a certain substance that is toxic to most organisms at high concentrations (for example, a trace element, such as selenium) from the soil or water and concentrate this substance in their tissues. Hyperaccumulators are often also capable of metabolizing their particular toxin into a less dangerous form. These capabilities make hyperaccumulators excellent candidates for phytoremediation: the practice of using plants to clean up polluted ecosystems. For example, the plants I studied might be used to remediate an area that has toxic concentrations of selenium in the soil due to mining or intensive irrigation. Because many trace elements that are toxic at high concentrations are essential for animal nutrition in small doses, hyperaccumulators may also be useful for biofortification: improving the nutritional value of a crop. In particular, I studied an amino acid transporter in the selenium hyperaccumulator species Stanleya pinnata (Brassicaceae).

  • Do you have previous experience in mentorship or educational outreach? Please list here (200 words)
    I have experience in science education and outreach with students of a variety of ages and interests. I am currently a teaching assistant in the lab section of first-semester General Biology at Colorado State University (a course that serves primarily college freshmen majoring in biological science), and previously assisted in teaching the lab for the Plant Physiology course at CSU (this course mainly serves college seniors majoring in biology with a botany concentration or in horticulture). A key component of the Plant Physiology lab is a project in which students design and perform an experiment of their own. I worked for several years as a learning assistant (a peer-level teaching assistant) in a physics course designed for life sciences majors; these students are mostly (college) juniors and seniors. Additionally, I worked for a number of years with the Little Shop of Physics, a CSU science outreach program. The goal of this long-running and far-reaching program is to provide hands-on, experiential science education to K-12 students, both directly and by developing materials and strategies for teachers to bring fun, active science learning into their classrooms. I am passionate about science outreach, I love learning (especially about plants!), and I love sharing science with others.

  • Profile Question 1
    What is best about being a scientist?

  • Answer the question you selected for profile question 1 here (300 words):
    The best thing about being a scientist is getting to be a part of understanding the world in a richer, deeper way. I love the feeling of discovery, of running experiments and finding an answer to a question nobody has asked before. That answer lets me -- and other scientists -- ask even more questions, and eventually we develop a new way to see the world!

  • Profile Question 2
    What is tough about being a scientist?

  • Answer the question you selected for profile question 2 here (300 words):
    Being a scientist can be pretty boring and frustrating sometimes. A lot of scientific work requires many repetitive measurements and procedures. Often experiments don't work the first, or second, or eighth time, so we have to go back to the drawing board and look for new ways to test our hypotheses. Sometimes we realize that we've been looking at things from a perspective that's not as informative as we'd like, and we need to start from scratch with a revised question. Science requires patience and persistence!

  • 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 communicate with one another! Plants release certain volatile (gaseous) hormones into the air, which let other plants know that there might be an herbivore or a virus going around. This gives the other plants a chance to get ready to defend themselves. Plants may also communicate through chemicals or even electrical signals in the rhizosphere, the area around the roots.

  • Help represent the outreach efforts of your societies. Please click all those organizations you are a member of:
    (not set)

  • Availability
    I am NOT available, please temporarily remove me from the available mentor list

  • Capacity: How many teams at a time are you comfortable working with?
    1

Recent Posts

Temperature Stress Project One Rachel Rose Jones

Hi team,

I've heard that you're finalizing your posters today and presenting tomorrow! I just wanted to say great work again, and I really like the flowcharts explaining the molecular effects of the mutations on your poster -- that's…

more
Temperature Stress Project One Rachel Rose Jones

Patris,

Thank you so much for the kind words! I have had such a great time working with you all, and have also learned a lot. I'm so glad you are proud of your work -- you absolutely should be! All the effort and time you have put in really…

more
Temperature Stress Project One Rachel Rose Jones

Amar,

I'm so glad to hear that! I've really enjoyed working with you folks, and I've learned a lot through your project -- so thank you as well. You all have put so much thought, time, and energy into this project, and it really…

more

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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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