Profile

• Time Zone

  Eastern

  
  
• Organization

  University of Guelph

  
  
• Role

  Scientist Mentor: I will mentor teams of students online

  
  
• Research Interests (300 words)

  My interest and experience with conducting scientific research is comprehensive and has been essential in honing my expertise as a university educator. I was introduced to research with multiple undergraduate co-op jobs at Agriculture & Agri-food Canada in Harrow and Guelph, Ontario (2001-2003). At these government research stations, I helped conduct projects related to bean breeding and genetics, as well as fruit and vegetable pathology. Then for my fourth year honours undergraduate project, I began working with Dr. Carol Peterson (University of Waterloo; plant anatomy), designing experiments that analyzed soybean seed coat structure and relating its importance to water imbibition (2004-2005). My success with this project led me to conduct PhD research with Dr. Peterson, on the root systems of Iris germanica and Allium cepa (2005-2010). In general, this research encompassed root development, structure, function and suberin biochemistry. During this time, I collaborated with Drs. Jim Seago (SUNY Oswego, USA; plant anatomy), Ernst Steudle (University of Bayreuth, Germany; plant physiology), and Mark Bernards (Western University, Canada; plant biochemistry), all of whom provided valuable mentorship and a multidisciplinary approach to my research.
  
  After completing my PhD, I stepped away from basic research and started to become progressively more interested and experienced in university teaching. Currently, I am a full-time botany undergraduate laboratory coordinator at the University of Guelph (2013-present). In this role, I have leading educational, administrative and technical roles in designing, implementing, and evaluating three laboratory-based plant science courses. Part of my expertise includes creating and facilitating modern learning exercises with well-written protocols, fostering student engagement and success around clear learning outcomes, regular monitoring of student performance, as well as training and mentorship to graduate student teaching assistants. In addition, I frequently host plant biology workshops for high school students as a part of the ‘Let’s Talk Science’ outreach program. My genuine enjoyment of teaching coupled with a true fascination of plants drew me to the unique opportunity afforded by the Planting Science program. I look forward to assisting Planting Science with its goal of generating a greater interest in plants among teachers and young people (i.e., curing plant blindness!).

  
  
• Profile Question 1

  What is your favorite plant? Why?

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

  My favourite plants are irises, in part because I conducted my PhD research on them (iris root structure and function). Having observed hundreds (maybe thousands?) of iris roots, I can report that their root cellular anatomy is just as beautiful as the flowers! Interestingly, these roots have a special outer layer called an exodermis that contains a unique Casparian band, which zig-zags around the root circumference, and is important for overall root system function.

  
  
• Profile Question 2

  What is the coolest thing you have discovered or learned about plants?

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

  Some of the coolest things I have learned about plants have to do with the importance of their extensive root systems that are often hidden from us because they are underground. For example, root systems are essential for overall plant health (including water and nutrient acquisition), as part of a communications network with other plants and fungi, and for maintaining a vibrant soil ecosystem.

  
  
• 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):

  Find a discipline that truly interests you (such as plant science!) and delve into it. You will find a great diversity in topics and research directions within every discipline, as well as overlap between seemingly different disciplines (for example: plant biochemistry, plant genetics, plant physics). Think of how differing interests and expertise can be merged to create new experiments and new discoveries (for example: using flying toy drones to monitor agricultural fields for weeds and pests, or how skills in computer science can be used to create virtual 3D models of plant organs). If you are genuinely curious and have a thirst for knowledge, the possibilities are endless.
  
  Furthermore, if you see, hear or read about a specific scientist that interests you, search for them online. Often the research they were promoting is one of many unique and exciting projects they are currently working on. You should be able to find a list of their scientific publications (try searching Google Scholar), some of which are free to download. Such articles are typically written for an expert audience, but are great sources of information. Great scientists have the ability to think both creatively and critically, as well as having the passion and perseverance to make and share new discoveries.

  
  
• 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?

  2

  
  

Recent Posts

Plants have mass, they matter! Chris J. Meyer Nov 15, 2018

Hi Ammarah, Salmah & Emmie,

It’s great to see that you had some interesting results from your experiments! I hope your class presentation was also a success. You all conducted great work and had plenty of thoughtful questions on the…

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Hi Ammarah, Salmah & Emmie,

It’s great to see that you had some interesting results from your experiments! I hope your class presentation was also a success. You all conducted great work and had plenty of thoughtful questions on the topic; these are some of the keys to success in scientific research.

From this experience, I hope you consider higher learning and careers in the plant sciences. Many colleges and universities offer such programs, plus there is a large and engaged community of plant scientists and teachers online as a part of professional societies such as the American Society of Plant Biologists (https://aspb.org/) and the Botanical Society of America (https://www.botany.org/).

Good luck at school and with all your future pursuits!

Plants have mass, they matter! Chris J. Meyer Oct 31, 2018

Thanks for sending along the labelled photo of some of your plants.

First, there are two types of leaves in Arabidopsis: 1) “rosette leaves” located at the base of the plant, and 2) “cauline leaves” located further up the…

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Thanks for sending along the labelled photo of some of your plants.

First, there are two types of leaves in Arabidopsis: 1) “rosette leaves” located at the base of the plant, and 2) “cauline leaves” located further up the stem. I see that the focus of your measurements will be rosette leaves, which is good. (That said, you may also want to measure the area of cauline leaf blades…)

Your blue labels denote the widest diameter of the whole rosette. Such a measurement includes the lengths of rosette leaf blades and petioles. It is a good idea to measure this so that you can then calculate total rosette area. There is advanced software that helps scientists calculate this properly, but feel free to assume the general shape of the whole rosette and use an appropriate area equation (for example, area of a circle = pi * radius²). Calculate rosette area for each white light wildtype plant (how many plants?), and then calculate the average ± standard deviation. Repeat these same calculations for all other groups of plants (white light mutants, red light wildtypes, red light mutants). All this data would look great together on a bar graph!

Your red labels specifically denote the length of rosette leaf blades, but you may also want to measure the width of these blades. Then you can then calculate rosette leaf blade area using an equation such as for an ellipse = pi * length radius * width radius. Calculate leaf blade area for each healthy and mature leaf on each white light wildtype plant (how many leaves and how many plants?), and then calculate the average ± standard deviation. Repeat these same calculations for all other groups of plants (white light mutants, red light wildtypes, red light mutants). All this data would look great together on a bar graph! In addition, you may want to measure petiole lengths as they appear shorter in mutant plants compared to wildtype.

Plants have mass, they matter! Chris J. Meyer Oct 30, 2018

Hi team,

Good to hear that you are getting interesting results. Plus, it is a valuable experience for you having to discard the “red light plants”. Although scientists have good intentions when starting a new experiment, they also…

more

Hi team,

Good to hear that you are getting interesting results. Plus, it is a valuable experience for you having to discard the “red light plants”. Although scientists have good intentions when starting a new experiment, they also need to prepare for the possibility of unusual or unexpected outcomes and then adapt appropriately without getting overly frustrated. Perseverance, optimism, and thoughtful tweaks to experiments are often needed.

While quantifying chlorophyll in leaves is an important measure of plant health, you may be able to omit this analysis if it will be too time consuming or labor intensive. That said, you should at least photograph and qualitatively observe the green color of the leaves, and then describe similarities or differences in your results. You may want to suggest to your teacher to purchase a hand-held chlorophyll meter for future classes. Here is the one I’m thinking of: www.atleaf.com