My Work
Big Picture Thinking
During my time at the United States Botanic Garden, I authored a five-year strategic plan for science. I collected ideas from every team at the USBG and other botanic garden experts across the United States to lay the foundation for a science program that formalizes the Garden's connection to the research community while supporting the conservation efforts and education and outreach work the Garden is known for. This is an incredibly exciting project as the plan signals a new era for the USBG: as not just a destination for plant conservation, appreciation, and knowledge but as an active research station accessible to scientists, students, and the curious-minded.
Plant Cell Biology Research
My primary project at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory revolved around plant roots and the beneficial bacteria associated with them. The idea was that if we knew more about where these bacteria like to live in relation to the root, we might be able to design roots to encourage these interactions.
The nitty-gritty: I grew Arabidopsis seedlings in fabricated ecosystems (ecoFABs) that allowed me to image the roots over time following inoculation with rhizobacteria. I had a small collection of fluorescently tagged bacteria that are known to provide growth benefits to plants I used to visualize colonization.
Revealing mysteries of plant cytokinesis
It's wild to me how little we know about how plant cells divide given that it's the basis for how all plants grow. My dissertation focused on the final step of cell division, cytokinesis when the new cell wall is built to split the cell in two.
I studied cytokinesis in both Arabidopsis thaliana and two freshwater algae: Penium margaritaceum and Spirogyra sp. This allowed me to infer some key changes that might've occurred as plants evolved from aquatic environments to terrestrial ones.
For more information check out my dissertation:
Dissecting the Cell Biology and Evolution of Land Plant Cell Cytokinesis with Chemical Genomics
Fostering Creative Courage
I have a fun sort of narcissism that often involves me seeing a piece of art, reading a poem, listening to a cool project presentation, etc. and thinking to myself, "I can do that." I'm quickly humbled, of course, at the first few attempts, but it's fun practicing. Over the years I've come to appreciate this perhaps naive ego as a sort of creative courage. And I've seen progress. I promised myself a long time ago that I'd never grow out of playing with new ideas and learning new things. Here's a gallery of some of my favorite artsy dalliances.
Sharing Science
Around year three of grad school, when things really started to get difficult, I cofounded a science communication group with some of my peers. We called it "Science Says" as a nod to the common phrase we saw in news articles about scientific topics. This was the perfect creative outlet to practice science communication while reigniting my passion for research.
I am particularly proud of the work I did with this group as it has blossomed into a large network of science communicators at UC Davis. Completely student-led, we worked together to make Youtube videos, infographics, and write blog posts to demystify research and debunk misconceptions. We organized campus-wide seminars, panel discussions, and lectures. Our voice became known throughout the community through science cafes, farmers markets, and school visits and demonstrations. We also led science communication training events for UC Davis scientists.
